Olympia

We spent the morning relaxing at the campsite and then set off for Olympia:site of the ancient games. We arrived late afternoon and went to the historic site to get information for out trip tomorrow. We then wandered through the beautifully kept modern town.  It was touristy as one would expect but it had lovely backdrop of hills and trees.  We bought postcards, had an icecream and then wandered back to the van and drove it to our overnight parking spot - a deserted car park with stunning views on the outskirts of the town. As the carpark was empty we had a game of football with a stone, tennis until Mike broke his plastic racquet and then frisbee.  We returned to the van for supper: tuna salad and then a game of scrabble.

Friday 26th April
After breakfast we drove back to the ancient site of the panhellenic games. It stated that this site was in use from the 11thC BC but it was around 500BC that the site was really important and the temple of Zeus was built.  Although the site is in ruins from effects of time and earthquakes it was interesting to see where the athletes trained, bathed, and worshipped their gods in the many temples. If an athlete was caught cheating he was fined and the money was used to create a statue to Zeus and the athletes names was engraved for all to see. So there was a 'cheats corridor'. I thought this was quite a good deterrent.The 200m (nearly) running track was still in existence and Jacqui could not resist getting down into a starting position for a photo opportunity.   The whole place was in a most beautiful wooded setting with a backdrop of green hills and we enjoyed exploring it for a couple of hours.

Back in the town we got stamps for our postcards, found the information centre (closed) and went for a drink to use the wifi in the cafe.  here we sorted out our campsite for when Millie and Liam come over and Mike chased up his rent which was late.

We then headed south in the van with Jacqui driving as Mike had had a beer and ended up south of Kalamata We stopped right next to the beach, the sea was crystal clear and it was hot so Jacqui went for a swim and we spent the night there.

 

Southern Italy to Greece

Southern Italy

Sunday 21st April Cantanzaro Lido,

Jacqui got up early and had her swim in the sea before breakfast. We then set off continuing along the southern coast road towards a campsite at Badolato where we hoped to pick up internet and to service the van. We arrived at lunchtime only to find it closed. I wandered into the site to see if anyone was around. I spoke to resident Italian who spoke no English but who kindly phoned the site manager. He came down to the site advised us it was not open but was happy for us to stay, no charge but there was no internet facilities. But our need was wifi, so we thanked him and set off down the coast to see what we could find. The manager had told us that wifi was available on the sea front at Cantanzaro Lido and sure enough we found wifi so Jacqui managed to finish the marking she needed to do. This was quite a nice town so we looked for spot to park up and stay for the night.

Monday 22nd April Sibari,
Our plans had been scuppered by the last site being closed. We had planned to go into the local national park for two nights and use our kayak for the first time. The weather in the national park was also very cold (7 degrees), wet and foggy. We had been experiencing 20 degrees so we decided to stick to the coast and possibly get an earlier ferry from Bari to Greece.
I discovered that the electrical connection we had been using to charge the computer in the van had burnt out so en route we stopped off at a few electrical retailers to see if we could find a replacement. After four different attempts we eventually found one. We arrived in Sibari where we stopped at a lovely campsite, although it did not have internet we spent the afternoon cleaning the van inside and out. in the evening we went over to a British couple who had a brand new Hymer B544 (our previous van). We spent a very pleasant evening exchanging ideas and past experiences of places to visit.

Tuesday 23rd April
Following on from our discussions the previous night we decided to visit Matera on our way to the ferry. Matera is famous for its houses and churches that were built into the limestone caves. The amazing thing is that people lived in these (slum) dwellings until the late 1950s/early 60s when a law was passed which forced 15,000 of the population to be rehoused into more modern accommodation. We spent a couple of hours looking at the site, visiting one of the cave houses where a family of 2 adults and 6 children (child mortality was 50%) lived along with their animals in a room no larger than my living room but probably bigger than our van.
From here we drove to Bari arriving a 5pm. We were able to get a direct ferry to Patras immediately at the internet price of 290 euros so we paid our money and got on board. As we had a camper we were allowed to sleep in it on an open deck.  This made the 15 hour ferry crossing much more pleasant. The sea was really flat and it was an easy crossing although we were woken by at 5am by all the lorries disembarking at Igoumenitsa.

Wednesday 24th April Patras
The morning of our ferry trip was spent watching the various Greek islands come into view as we crossed the flat scintillating sea.  It was a gorgeous day. We had a interesting chat with a bloke from Devon who was now a sail maker in Sicily (although he trained as a ship builder); he was on his way to Turkey.
We docked at 1pm (30 mins late) and headed out hoping our Sat Nav would work in Greece.  It does. First stop was Lidl to get a few bits and pieces, then the bank for money.  We were pleased to see that fuel was about 35cents a litre cheaper in Greece than Italy. We then continued on the coast road to Kato Allisos.  The campsite was lovely: lemons hanging waiting to be picked, wonderful orange blossom scent and shady trees but the beach was a mess and smelly.

Sicily: Milazzo, Catania and Mt. Etna

Thursday 18th April
If you are up to date with our blog you will know that we arrived in Sicily via Messina with the purpose of travelling to Milazzo to book the cruise to Stromboli.  We arrived in Milazzo after a difficult but beautiful drive over some Sicilian hills on very windy, narrow roads.  Mike is getting good at this!  In Milazzo we found that there were ferries and hydrofoils going to most of the Aeolian islands but despite the advice we had received the night time trip to Stromboli was not going to start for a couple of weeks. There was one 2 day trip which involved an overnight stop at Lipari but as it cost over 300 euros, wasn't the trip we wanted  and would mean we would have to find a safe place to leave Buster, we decided against it.  I was very disappointed and indecisive about what to do but eventually decided that I would visit Mount Etna instead.  Again this was a bit hit and miss as there had been quite a large ash eruption two weeks previously and Etna was still belching out a lot of smoke. Interestingly at the end of April with temperatures in the high 20s at sea level Etna still had snow on its peak (3340M high).

That night we spent on the tip of the peninsula at Milazzo.  We were high up and had lovely views with the sea on two sides.  The following morning we up early and went for a walk around the peninsula.  It was a beautiful day that was matched by the scenery.  There are so many wild flowers out at the moment. Again it has been lovely to be here early in the season before everything dries out. After yesterday's driving experience we decided to take the toll road to Taormina.  There is a popular beach here called Isola Bella.  We had our lunch here and enjoyed the sun and sea (its warming up nicely) for a couple of hours before moving further south to Catania where Mike had identified an overnight stop.

In the evening we realised our engine battery was not charging, Mike went through everything methodically and eventually found a smashed fuse (victim of poor roads perhaps). Fortunately we had a spare of near enough the same ampage which seemed to solve the problem. But having fixed that he then found that the lid to our toilette cassette was broken.  This I solved temporarily with a plastic beaker!

Although Saturday was going to be about the volcano we decided to try and get some new fuses and a new toilet.  We eventually found a motorhome showroom that was not too far away and they had both fuses and toilet.  The fuses they gave to us free but the toilet was going to cost over 200 euros.  We decided to carry on with our own makeshift solution for the time-being (and 9 days later I can say it is working well).  Our  next problem was getting out of the road to the show room. It was a dead end and was really too narrow to turn in.  Mike found a gateway and attempted a three-point turn.  I think we would have got stuck horizontally across the road if it hadn't been for a kind lady who opened the electronic gate to her drive to allow us more room to manouvre. I have to say we have found the Sicilians very helpful.

Once released we could continue our journey to Mount Etna.  We headed for Refugio Sapienza where there was a huge car park and other tourist facilities for visiting the mountain.  The route up took you through the Etna national park and although the visibility was not great it was very beautiful.  The roads were covered in a thick layer of black ash and you could taste it in the air. (Mike was worried about Buster getting dirty). At Refugio Sapienza we found that the car park cost 10 euros, the chair lift 30 euros and to see some of the higher craters you needed a guide 60 euros. Also because the volcano was quite active your access was limited higher up so we were not sure what would be gained by using the chair lift. In our own economical way we organised our own trip. We found a free parking spot beyond the car park and decided to walk two craters: one was created in 1987 and the other in 2001.  The whole area was quite surreal and the lava fields and craters were amazing.  With the dust in the air and the smoke higher up it was easy to imagine the craters being active.  We were fortunate in that we were able to have a good walk  around before the weather closed in and it started to rain really heavily.  Back in the van we drove slowly down the other side of the volcanic natural park taking in the raw and powerful beauty.

In a reflective mood we drove on to the Port at Messina and caught the 5pm ferry back into Italy.  We drove along the coast for a couple of hours reaching a small village where we could see other vans parked for the night.  All German.  We joined them.

Travelling to Sicily and first sight of an active volcano

Travelling to Sicily

Monday 15th April.

We planned to leave Pompeii quite early but by the time we had done our food shop, bought the post cards for family and serviced the van it was time for lunch. Once we on our way we decided, very wisely, to go onto the toll roads for the first time. The journey to Pompeii had been treacherous, to say the least, and how we never managed to either hit another car or smash a shock absorber I will never know. Clearly Buster is built of stronger stuff than we thought. All went well until we reached the end of the Parco Nazionale del Cilento. Our satnav had ideas above her station and took us off the motorway but I can thank her in one breath as the route she took us,  was again breath-taking, perfect Italian villages perched high in the mountains, beautiful lush green vegetation and awe-inspiring views. However, the sharp bend, steep climbs and slow progress was something we wanted to avoid as we had a long drive. We were travelling alongside the Parco Nazionale del Pollino but eventually we arrived at our first over night stop on our way to Sicily at Cirella.

We could not believe our luck. This site was right on the edge of the sea with its own beach and was run by a lovely old  Italian guy who wandered around the site with his eight cats in tow. He spoke no English, we spoke no Italian but somehow we got on well and both understood that we wanted - to stay for two nights and we needed WiFi. We were made very welcome by the local German campers, we were the only English again, they came over and chatted when we arrived and on the following afternoon brought round some of their homemade cake for us to eat with our afternoon tea/coffee. At sun set everyone picked up the chairs and made their way to the beach to watch the sun go down. We all communicated as best we could and it was a very enjoyable.

Tuesday. 16th April

Jacqui got down to work again today for a couple of hours. But after that we decided to slow down and enjoy the glorious sunshine reaching 30 degrees. This is what we had wanted for a few weeks. The weather had been great for sight-seeing but now we wanted Sun. We sat on the beach or around the site for most of the day and Jacqui went for a swim. Again we all convened on the beach to watch the sun go down, drink our wine or beer and eat nibbles. What a beautiful spot!! Our host, the old Italian site owner wandered onto the beach with his cats and joined us sun watching spectators. I had now managed to finish a further two books called “Worst Case Scenario” survival hand books. I can now

·         Escape a sinking car

·         Jump from a cliff into a river

·         Make a fire without matches

·         Survive when lost in a desert and jungle

·         Perform a tracheotomy

·         Land a plane in an emergency

And lots of useful things like that. Two good books, thanks Rita Anne & Paul. I am my now reading Clare Balding’s “My Animals and other Family” which is very entertaining. Lighter reading than the last two.

Wednesday. 17th April

Not a good start to the day. Again we had set ourselves up to get off early but everything we tried to do did not go quite to plan. We booked Millie and Liam’s flights to Corfu so they could join us for a week in May but we entered the wrong email address onto the booking which caused such a problem to change. I then spoke to my property agents only to find out when they installed the new boiler into the Old Stables, they had to remove part of the antique pine unit and under the instruction of the tenant, left the unit outside, which will result in it being weather damaged.  Well all was eventually sorted and we set off on our way. Not sure when the next fuel station was, we decided to top up with both LPG and diesel at a garage 2 km back down the road. Feeling a little better with ourselves we set the satnav to Tropea, another long 170km drive down Italy’s southern  west coast. Our better feelings were short lived when we had only travelled 20km when we found a garage that sold diesel for 18 cents less than what we had just paid. On a full tank that is 10 euros less than what we had just paid. Don’t you just hate that!!! The trip to Tropea took us through the narrowest part of Italy, about 50km east coast to west coast. It was a good trip and we soon reached Tropea. I entered the town from the top of the hill and our stop for the night was on the marina at the bottom of the hill. So we took Buster down a very windy, narrow road and due to the undulation of the road we bottomed the van’s back end a couple of times. Not a good move! We arrived at the bottom and parked up the van. Just a few metres from us a fishing boat had just landed its catch and all the locals were there to buy up the fresh fish. Not to be out done and with Jacqui’s love for fresh fish we purchased eight medium sized red skinned fish which we ate later that night, delicious. But before the evening set in we went up to the village to have a wander around. We found the café with Tropea’s  best view of the sea and the volcanic island, Stromboli so Jacqui could enjoy the local Cassata Sicilian and I the Tartufo Nero, Ice creams to die for. We were both fascinated by Stromboli. Every twenty minutes or so it would belch out a plume of smoke reminding you it was still  the most active volcano in the region.

Thursday 18th April

We were disappointed to find out in the morning that the night time trips to see Stromboli (at its best) did not start until May but were advised that we could visit by taking the boat from Milazzo in Sicily. We had been undecided about going as far south as Sicily but this made up our mind. We had a good trip down to Villa san Giovanni and we were able to get a ferry almost immediately to Messina.  It was not a long trip and we thought it was expensive at 95 Euros. Milazzo was on the other side of the island and our journey there was beautiful if not convoluted - see next blog.

Pompeii and the Amalfi coast.

Saturday 13th April

Pompeii

We arrived in Pompeii in the late morning having left Cassino first thing.  The early part of the journey had been ok but the latter half was difficult. The roads were narrow and badly maintained and we had to hold our breath as we just got under a low bridge that we had no option to avoid as we were committed on the narrow road with no room to turn.  The roads have definitely got worse as we approached Naples.  As we arrived in Pompeii we felt it looked quite shabby and were a bit worried about where we were staying.  However the campsite that Mike had located was like a little oasis: grassy parking lots, beautiful orange blossom scent and suitable amenities.  What's more it was right opposite the entrance to the roman ruins.  We caught our breath and relaxed in the sun with our lunch but by 2pm we were both ready to visit the ruins. It was on the 24th August AD79 that the roman town was buried by ash from the erupting Vesuvius.  Although the story is so well known it took your breath away that so much of the town was left virtually intact.  Vesuvius is a dominant presence in the background but today as has been the case for many years it was sleeping. Mike and I spent about 4 hours wandering around the site together but after that I went home and left the last hour to him. We were very lucky to see it on a day where the sun shone, with a cooling breeze.  I can imagine how difficult it must be to explore this site in the height of summer.





Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast
Sunday was even warmer than our day in Pompeii (around 25C).  We decided to spend it on the coast but so that Mike did not get any more grey hairs we chose to go by train to Sorrento and then take the coastal bus to Amalfi. For those who are not familiar with the Amalfi coastal road it is a spectacular journey.  The route is narrow and twisty with sheer drops down to the sea below. If Mike had driven it he would have had to concentrate so hard on his driving that he would have had no pleasure from the views and we probably would have lost a wing mirror too.  In fact, it turned out that motor homes are not allowed on this road,  although we also heard that one could travel in one direction at a certain time and then come back at another set time.  As it was we made the right decision.  The bus driver was mad and obviously knew the road well so with a lot of horn honking he managed to deliver us to the small town of Amalfi without going over the edge or hitting anyone. We enjoyed relaxing in the sun after our week's sight seeing.  I had a lovely swim in the sea which was not too bad a temperature once you were in.  Later on we went for Pizza and a beer, caught the bus back, had another wander around Sorrento (it had been very busy in the morning when we arrived due to a half marathon being raced) picking up an ice cream on the way (it is true Italians do make very good ice cream) and then we caught the train back to Pompeii. It had been a very pleasant day.

 

Tarquina's Etruscan tombs and Tivoli

Wednesday 10^th April.

We woke up early again, but this time so we did not have to pay for a second half day. The Italians have a great way of maximising their income from these tourist sites.  We had a beautiful drive, as always following the green routes, keeping off the motorways, and we stopped to picked some wild flowers before reaching Orvieto (one of Jacqui’s favourite Italian wines). This is a large town perched on the top of a cliff and one that would not let in Motorhomes in, so we had to double back down the hill searching for an alternative route to our next destination, Lake Bolssena.  We stopped at Bolssena and had a great early lunch, in the sunshine (20 degrees at last) on a park bench, next to the lake which was so tranquil and beautiful, watched by a few interested residents and some ducks. Reluctantly we got back into Buster and headed off to our final destination for the day, Montalto di Castro on the Mediterranean coast. This was only an 'en route' stop to Tarquina and was not what we expected at all. It was an almost deserted sea side resort that had seen better days. Even our camping site had been abandoned. Thankfully I had identified two possible stopovers for here and we moved onto the next which was in the process of being established due to the closure of the other. We parked our van had a chat to the local German campers and then set of exploring the empty town.

Thursday 11th April

Our main focus today was the Etruscan tombs at Tarquina. Tarquina was founded in the 12 century BC - that is a very long time ago! It reached its prime in the 4th Century BC.  The necropolis was formed in 7th Century BC and over 6000 tombs have been excavated since 1489.  About 20 of these are now open to the public. When one considers the age of these buildings you cannot help but be amazed at the quality of the paintings that line the tombs.  We spent a good couple of hours going underground and coming back up into the beautiful countryside.

After this visit we set off for Tivoli, east of Rome. Again we chose the scenic route and found another beautiful lake to have our lunch: Lago di Bracciano. from there we skirted around the lake, picking up the ring road around Rome and some heavy traffic before arriving in Tivoli in the late afternoon. Tivoli was another conveninent stop on our way south but it did have two interesting places we wished to visit: Villa d'Este and the Adriana Villa. 

Friday 12th April

We were up early to visit the Villa d'Este. This is a renaissance villa built in the 16th Century for Cardinal Ippolita d'Este.  The villa was interesting  and contained some highly decorated frescos and painted ceilings but these were surpassed (in my opinion) by the wonderful and multiple fountains in the garden.  We spent an enjoyable couple of hours here before heading down the hill to Villa Adriana.  This was Emperor Hadrian's Summer residence. It was one of the largest and most elaborate villas in the Roman empire.  Unlike Mike, I am not always impressed by roman remains but this was quite special.  We spent quite a long time here admiring it all and then thought we must get back on the road as we had quite a long journey to make to Cassino.