STOP PRESS...TV APPEARANCE

We are intending to watch the tour de france flash by on Thurs 4 july and expect to be at Chapelle St. Gabrielle. The van will probably be in the campsite but we will be on the road and the peleton  is expected at the  crossroads we are targeting somewhere between 15.04 to 15.09 French time (14.04 to 14.09 BST)
I don't ( so far) have a union jack or a silly costume and I will not be running alongside any cyclists  although Bob may be overcome by all that Lycra and testosterone and any offer of a crossbar may be taken.
I do however have a large blue and white Auto-Trail golfing umbrella and will wave this furiously for all our fans ......so set the video to ITV4 and try to pick us out

Still at leisure

21-26.06.2013

Doing nothing on Lake Garda  except a nice lunch lakeside in Pacengo and a day out on the bus to Verona, about an hour away. Having had a bad experience in Bologna trying to find the right bus stop for the return trip, this was number one priority and managed to waste a fair amount of time on the exercise....but we were not alone as a vast number of people were also having difficulties in locating  correct stop. I ended up with 3 different timetables and the bus arrived at a time that coincided with none. But I get ahead of myself. We have been to Verona before but only a flying visit to the opera some many years ago when we had a lastminute.com  holiday on Garda so a good opportunity to see the city properly. And very nice it is too. Very smart, stylish and a good place to walk around, despite the heat. Place was full of people wearing Beatles t-shirts and it would appear that either a tribute band was on that night in the arena or Paul McCartney was. ...( is he still alive?) . They were doing sound checks and it was awful, so probably Macca himself. So had a good walk, couple of smashing churches, the Duomo and the Basilica well worth the €2.50. Had a snack by the river which looked dangerously fast and high - and then managed to get the bus back. No marks to Verona public transport information dept.
Had a breezy night involving 3am winding in the awning and battening down hatches as a mighty storm  blew up.
Decided we had done Garda and being suitably refreshed would head for France. As we need to get south of Avignon, various routes available but as we have booked a campsite after great difficulty from 1st July hopefully on a road that the Tour de France passes right by...or very close too..and have days to kill, we opted for Milan-Turin-Briancon, over the Col de Montgenevre, stopping overnight in a hotel car park at Cesana Torinese, a few miles short of the French border. The book said ( correctly) that the Italian side of the pass was vastly better than the French , as it had been improved with tunnels. I suspect that this was because it turned out that Cesana & Claviere were  Olympic winter games venues in 2006 and good access was required. Our overnight stop in the hotel car park with all facilities for €10 showed enterprise and it seemed that it did good business in the winter as it was opposite the ski lifts and monorail.So dined outside in glorious  sunshine surrounded by snowcapped mountains and glaciers-until the sun sank behind them and it turned chilly. Next morning, it was 11° in the van, which hasn't dropped below 24° for 7 weeks so bit of a shock to the system. Over the Col and down to Briancon, very picturesque route and a much better road to descend than ascend', with innumerable hairpins. Strangely the descent was much longer than ascent so France must  be lower than Italy. Came upon a nice lake south of Embrun with a choice of campsites so stopped for a couple of nights. Hot in the sun but a chill wind coming off the surrounding Haute Alpes if you don't get behind a shelter.. May only stay one night.

At leisure

19-21.06.2013

After the rigours of touring we decided to have a holiday. Whilst it was a terrific trip, there is no doubt that it was fairly hard going....over 4500 miles already, and at least another 1000 before home...with few real rest days, as there was always somewhere to go or something to do. Last year this tour was 45 days, cut to 40 this year with no fewer locations or visits, and we all agreed that those 5 days of leisure would have been most welcome. So we need a break.
First to Bologna. A fine city, with excellent campsite on outskirts of town serviced by a regular bus to city centre and near roundabout with exceedingly nubile young ladies apparently offering to wash cars or give directions and I suspect that the shortness of clothing was on account of the heat...which was a bit of a problem, being 37°, nearly100.
So sightseeing limited to one morning. Very grand city with lots of colonnades for shade thankfully. Very hot in van at night and sitting outside compromised by biting insects.....take your choice. Very good campsite but pricey @ €29pn.
Next to lake garda. Intended to go to Bella Italia but email from Christine said it was packed & hot, no shade left and they were on football pitch and lots of kids ( they stopping one night on way home). So picked Fossalta as it seemed less likely to be full and it wasn't. V.nice camp on lake but 30 min  walk along beach to any civilisation .  No big deal so here for 5-7 days before heading to Provence and tour de france.

Chaos.....if you think boarding a ferry in Ancona is bad....

17/18.06.2013 - A Greek Tragedy

The drive down to Patras was beautiful - probably better than the Adriatic highway in Croatia as it was not dangerous as well. The campsite at Delphi has to be probably the best site we've ever stayed on, certainly in the top 3, as it has good clean facilities, a very good restaurant, a stunning view available to nearly all pitches and a swimming pool perched on a cliff. Family run by 2 cousins, the father of one having built it in 1965. After our meal on Sunday, we were taught Greek dancing by one of the boys and their whole extended family joined in for a great evening. The tragedy is, that despite all this going for them, bookings this year are 60% down on last year and they don't know what to do. Word of mouth is OK but Delphi is a long way to go for a good campsite so I don't know how they're going to survive which they deserve to as they couldn't try any harder to please.
So we drove down to Patra, wonderful sea bridge in the Millau style over the straights and a crowd of us parked beneath and had lunch at a waterside taverna before heading to the hellhole of the docks. First mistake was letting Malc lead who took us to the north port instead of the south port, 2 miles away, where Minoan lines operate from. When I eventually overtook him in the docks and stopped the now developing convoy from going further north, we turned round and headed south. Finding the port was easy, getting in was difficult, and finding the right parking area, having cleared security, for our yet-to-arrive ship was a lottery. Information zero. No signs, no gates, no personnel, no nothing. 2 other shipping lines had ships unloading and loading with not one person directing anything at any time. Every lorry driver did what he wanted. Our boat arrived at 15.30 and it was chaotic. When the very long line of motorhomes/caravans finally boarded, some were parked facing the front, some the rear and hunt the electric supply began.
Sailed at 18.45, 45 mins late. The situation was made worse when the boat called into Igoumenitas at midnight and a lot more vehicles were loaded in front of us.
The crossing to Italy was as calm as millpond, and arrived Ancona 17.45 Tues, 45 mins late. Weather exceedingly hot.
We had said goodbye to Alan & Pat, tour leaders, at Patra as having given us the tickets and seen us through the dock gates their job was done and they are off to Athens for a holiday. There had been a vote of thanks and speeches at the Delphi dinner as they had done a cracking good job. We got quite friendly with them as we often pitched next to them and shared the odd bottle and we thought they were superb. Very calm and unflappable, good people in a crisis, a great team and a fund of stories from leading over 40 tours around Europe , New Zealand and South Africa.
So when the other 9 units finally disembarked in further chaotic scenes at Ancona, 7 headed for San Marino, where we started and had a final final meal, and 2, including ONBF ( who left very pointedly without saying goodbye to us, and very pointedly invited everybody except us to visit them in their Spanish holiday home) who shot off to Rimini. So 14 of us had a very pleasant meal at the campsite and said our farewells with mass swapping of email addresses etc.
Richard & Monica may well join the trip to Morocco and we all intend meeting in Cambridge for a week in Oct to finalise plans. A good finish.
Notes will be made.

End of tour....another adventure begins

16.06.2013
Guided tour round Delphi. Very hot, no shade . Must be hottest day yet. Fantastic setting, great guide who brought it to life and excellent museum. Afternoon spent in shade/pool and last farewell dinner in evening
Tomorrow we head to Patra , only 75 miles, embarcation at 16.00 so lunch  in Patra as meals on boat are rubbish and expensive. Bit pissed so may elaborate next time....it is father's day after all.

Mt.Olympus to the Oracle via Thermopylae

14/15.06.2013
A straightforward run from Alexandropolis in sunshine again. Stopping for morning coffee at a lay by I discovered a farm stall and succumbed to cherries, oranges, a litre of farm Ouzo and a 2 litre plastic bottle of their own wine, to much derision. A swim in the sea was very pleasant in the afternoon and at evening meeting was asked to give presentation on the battle of Thermopylae, the monument to which we shall pass nearby. When evening drinks chez nous were commenced, the 2 litres of wine disappeared in a flash with criticism that more was not purchased although the Ouzo was universally condemned and may well be causing the loss of sight in one eye. Things got raucous and continued to the restaurant  where we had a splendid meal on the terrace overlooking the sea , followed by port and brandy  chez nous to round off a super day. Things may be getting rowdy which bodes well for the now almost certain Moroccan trip next Feb.
Highway robbery alive and well in Greece as we  were continually mugged at toll booths between Plaka and Delphi. At one point charged 5€ for 1 km of motorway, and first 50 miles cost 21€. Stopped at Thermopylae to take photos of the statue of  Leonidas, the Spartan king who when leading 300 Spartans against 300,000 Persians replied to the demand from Xerxes to " lay down your arms" with "Come  and get them". Fine statue.....if you don't know what I'm on about, it's all in Wikipedia.
The campsite at Delphi is the must stunning location ever encountered....on a terrace in the mountains, high above the town of Itea looking across the valley to the sea with a view to die for. Site is family run and the sons provided a liberal welcome with ouzo and a promise to teach us how to dance Greek style when we have our last and final meal on Sunday before heading to Patra and the ferry back to Italy on monday.

Out of Turkey, back to Greece

13.06.2013
The weather breaks and a miserable run up the Gallipoli peninsular to the Greek border. Worst roads yet. No problem crossing despite having to dodge a lengthy line of lorries waiting to clear 3 Turkish checkpoints (customs,police,vehicle) with only one one lane functioning and a dirt track into Greece where again only one booth was operating. Heard later that Peter and Barbera  passed one Turkish checkpoint where the window was closed and therefore missed getting the requisite stamp and were refused permission to exit the final gate at gunpoint and had to renter Turkey which involved presenting documents at 3 windows and paying €15 in order to be  allowed to then turn round and exit Turkey in the correct manner. Much hilarity as it took them 2 hours but they took it in good humour as its a story to dine out on for years.
Arrived Alexandropolis midday, massive shop at Lidls, walk into town and beer on the prom, then drinks chez nous for friends. Bit of an end of term atmosphere building up even though we still have Delphi ( and my own detour to the pass of Thermopylae and the Spartan's monument) yet to come.