Bloguna Matata

Bonjour mes petites blogettes, and firstly I must make grandiose apologies for neglecting you for so very, very long. I won’t dilly dally with excuses, lets just say that there has been a distinct lack of internet around, and the little that there has been has been devoted to quickly checking my email, updating facebook and other humdrum tasks that had to be done under the watchful countdown of the internet café clock.

Last I wrote, we were just about to leave Holland. Well, we ended up staying another month!

Only kidding.

We did eventually prise ourselves from the delights of the Netherlands, to begin our long voyage southeast to Hungary. So, on the 22nd August we left the Hague and drove across the border into Germany, to stop off along the Rhine river in Dusseldorf. We found a camperstop on the river a couple of hundred yards from the bustling centre which was very handy, and we ventured in for a couple of extremely tasty beers that night. The next morning we were off, heading south and following the river through the Rhine valley which is exceptionally pretty and dotted sporadically with ruined castles and various photo opportunities. That night we free camped in a town called Mainz and met a nice German guy who checked out brakes for us (a warning light had been coming on and off), luckily they were fine, just a bit overheated from all the hills and valleys.

We carried on the next day, stopping in a typically Bavarian village called Gerolzhofen. Germany has thousands of camperstops, which are either free or really cheap where you can rock up for one or two nights. It is so campervan friendly, it really was a pleasure travelling through. So, onwards to the next day, which is the 25th August and we found another little town – Straubing and another camperstop. We met an interesting English couple called Nick & Lynn and ended up drinking with them for about 7 hours.

The following day we finally crossed our next border into Austria, home of Arnie and the Sound of Music style scenery – great! We actually just stayed in a service station that night which afforded a surprisingly good nights sleep… somehow the sound of lorries rumbling past is quite soothing. The next day, 27th August, we pegged it right on through Austria and all of its mountainous gloriousness into Hungary. As it had been a long drive we stopped just over the border, once we had gone through the rigmarol of getting a motorway vignette (they are toll roads and you have to provide your vehicle registrations documents and all sorts before they let you buy this pass).

We found a thermal spa hotel in a town called, wait for it…. Mosonmagyarovar… (there are accents above the vowels but I’m not sure where the buttons are to put those on)…which was OH SO GOOD. When we first arrived we didn’t know what the fuss was all about with these thermal spa things but let me tell you, they are simply glorious. You have all these various swimming pools, fuelled by underground mineral waters of various temperatures and mineral properties which are said to be healing. We just couldn’t get enough of them and spent so long rolling around like a pair of beached dolphins that we had extremely wrinkly fingers and toes by the end of it. They are also real centres of the local communites, where everyone hangs out and plays cards around the pools and gossips. After one afternoon, night and following morning of soaky warm wonderment we ended our epic journey and arrived in Budapest.

Now the reason we wanted to arrive in Budapest on this particular day (28th August) was that my Dad and his long term partner Maggie were also going to be there, as Maggie’s eldest daughter Kirsty and her husband Andy actually live in Buda and they were taking a holiday to visit them. Andy works for an airline out there and Kirsty teaches English, although she is really a dietician. For weird reasons, she’s not allowed to practise there.

We stayed in Budapest for 5 nights, and in that time did some really lovely touristy but nice things. We visited the city’s most famous and beautiful old spa and spent the entire day there (I should mention that is was blazing hot sunshine the entire time we were there – around 30 degrees I should think), all getting lots of relaxation and sunburn marks. Another day we drove out to Lake Balaton, the largest freshwater lake in central Europe, which is decidedly green in colour and very refreshing to take a dip in with pretty villages around it’s edge. – The one we went to, Balatonfured, actually had a wine festival going on the day we were there.

We ate out in a fantastically posh riverboat restaurant called ‘Spoon’ which served fruit and champagne cocktails out on the deck and gourmet food all at reasonable Hungarian prices. Later that night Kirsty & Andy took us out for Zombie cocktails at a couple of pretty swish bars. We got decidedly drunk and were convinced we saw Sven Goran Erikson but in retrospect I think it was just some old poor bald guy who happened to look a bit like him. I wouldn’t say that Budapest is mega cheap these days, but it certainly is more so than London or Guernsey.

On the Sunday that we were there we went out to this fabulous old colonial style hotel, the Corinthia, which does this famous Sunday buffet. You stay there for 4+ hours, with all the drinks included in one price, and that includes champagne my dears! The food is overflowing and tempting, from sushi to thai curry to your typical Sunday roast. I overdosed on shellfish and the dessert buffet, which was extensive to say the least, Luckily I had a loose, babydoll style dress that hid many sins. There was even a string quartet, which for some reason serenaded me whenever I walked past! Those crazy Hungarians. Kirsty & Andy live near the citadel, just by the river on the nicer side of the city. They have a really roomy apartment there and we parked our van, Margo, just across the road from it.

On the 2nd September we finally said goodbye to our friends and family in Budapest and drove back the way we had come in, towards Austria. We went back to the original thermal spa place we had found on the way in and ended up staying for two nights for some relaxation. Unfortunately the site was mosquito-tastic and I was munched to pieces the entire time we were there. All the same, it was very nice.

We left Hungary on 4th Sep and entered Austria, where we made a beeline straight for Vienna. We found another cheapo camperstop on a vinery just on the edge of the city from where we could take a train into the centre. At this camperstop we met a terrific old Dutch couple, Don & Willma. Don played both the accordian and the harmonica while Willma sung. He serenaded us with Edith Piaf songs into the evenings. It was great. So we visited Vienna with them on the train and then went our separate ways. We walked for miles around the centre, taking in all the beautiful, impressive architecture and incredible riches the city has to offer. Vienna really doesn’t disappoint, and although we spent just the one day there, I can imagine getting really submerged in it all and wanting to spend longer.

We drove south from Vienna past Graz to stop at a village called Griffen. It is dominated by an old castle which is on this hill with almost sheer vertical sides that looms over the village. It really is epic and like something I would read in one of the fantasy novels I love so much. Well, that day it was really warm again and so we left the motorway to find some shade in amongst the trees in the surrounding hills. As we were parked up under a big tree in a country lane a car pulled up and this Austrian man got out and came over. Turns out he was curious about our strange Guernsey number plate (nb – we have been getting this a LOT). Anyway, we got chatting, and he invited to stay at his place that night. He had a large, empty, chalet style house nestled halfway up a hill and he let us park on the drive. He left us to it and we had a wonderful evening running around the garden and scrumping apples and plums. It was really very pretty, and we weren’t too concerned that he might rape and murder us both because he actually knew about Guernsey and Jersey and was thrilled that we came from there.

From Griffen in southern Austrian we blitzed the drive through to Venice in Italy! When we crossed the border into Italy I was so excited, because I absolutely adore Italy. We arrived on the afternoon of 7th September, and accidentally drove across the bridge into Venice, which is a bit of a no-no. Well, we realised our foolishness (it is horrendously expensive to actually drive into Venice! Very limited space, and all that), and found instead a great big camperstop just across the water from where we could take a water taxi in the city. It was only 4 euros a night, bargain.

So we duly taxied into the city. Oh the city! What can I say? It certainly lives up to whatever romantic, lofty aspirations you may have. I could go on for hours, but that would be so dull so I shall surmise with telling you that we spent one glorious day there, and in that day we visited St Marks Square, the Rialto bridge, many various Churches and we ate pizzas. We walked for miles all around the city, across the grand canal and over many small bridges, each and every one being just like something out of a movie. We drank very expensive coffee but it was all worth it.

On the 9th September we left our camperstop and headed westish, past Verona and to the shores of Lake Garda. We stopped at a picturesque town called Peschiera del Garda and splurged out on a proper campsite. We stayed there until 12th and had many swims in the lake. The town was really pretty with a Medieval fortress right in the centre. They also threw a jazz festival while we were there, they must have known we were coming!

We tore ourselves away from our lovely ‘Camping Butterfly’(!) on the shores of the lake and drove southwest to the Mediterranean sea! We stayed the night of 12th at a seaside town called ‘Finale Ligure’ which was cool, our camperstop was literally on the beach, with waves splashing over the rocks as we slept. It was very hot though, and without mains power we couldn’t have any fans or aircon so we sweated pounds off in our sleep.

The next day we carried on along the coast, past Monaco and on to Antibes. We found a good campsite about 100 yards from the beach in Biot, a town about 30 minutes walk from the centre of Antibes. It was quite a touristy place, with various funny French themeparks close to the site. We settled in for a couple of very relaxed days, and then on 15th September Nick’s parents Tony & Den arrived on the train from Nice to see us. They had arrived in Nice a couple of days earlier for a fortnights holiday.

We spent the next week with Tony & Den, firstly going back with them to their friends apartment in Nice where they were staying and leaving our campervan on its own on the site in Biot. We went from Nice on the bus to Beaulieu Sur Mer and Monte Carlo, swam in the sea and marvelled at all the rich posers and their beautiful small city. We went on the train to Cannes and from their inland on to Grasse, which is famous for its Fragonard perfume. It is perched on a hilltop and you have to walk up many steps to get to the town centre from the train station. The apartment in Nice is right by the beautiful port and we went out for many lovely walks and meals around the city.

On Friday 19th September we picked up our van and with Tony & Den sat in the back we drove east across the Italian border to a town called Ventimiglia. They have a famous market there every Friday and I bought a kilo of sundried tomatoes and a massive jar of local pesto which has been keeping us going! We stayed in Ventimiglia for lunch then set off in the afternoon to stop over for one night in Ceriale, a small town along the coast. The morning after that we headed further along the coast, past Genova to Chiavari, a pretty, historic seaside town not far from the Portofino headland. We all wanted to visit Portofino but as there are no campsites close to it we opted for this town which gave easy access to it.

So on the morning of 21st Sep we took a train to Santa Margherita Ligure and from there a ferry on to Portofino. Portofino is regarded as a very beautiful, exclusive resort and is famous for its pretty harbourside with different coloured houses all along. It is where Wayne Rooney married Colleen, and we went to the Church and Castle where he had one of his three wedding receptions, apparentely. Not that I’m into all that I promise you! It is a very lovely Church though, perched right above the port with wonderful views out to sea and along the coast.

We said goodbye to Tony & Den the next day as they went back to their apartment in Nice on the train, and we stayed on in Chiavari. On 23rd we drove to Deiva Marina, another Italian seaside town and this is where I am now. We have found a very cheap proper campsite that again is on the beach, and we are just relaxing and chilling in the sea and editing our travel videos. We have bought flippers and have been snorkelling. We also have a double rubber ring which is hilarious although we do look like a right pair or twats in it, I have to admit.

I could go on and on in more detail, about the food we have been eating and the various little quirks and experiences that living in a campervan provides. Food highlights include a wonderful lobster linguini in Chiavari and stuffed moules in Beaulieu Sur Mer. Really, this is what Italy is all about, and the pizzas also have been much, much better than back home, as a rule! Of course, there have been problems with the van, but luckily so far we have been able to manage them. Nick replaced the water pump early on when we were in Holland and only yesterday we had to take apart the air conditioning unit and unbolt the front drivers seat to get to the electrics beneath it as we thought we had a short somewhere in the system. Turns out its just the bad electrics here at the campsite, we think.

If all goes well we will leave Deiva Marina in a couple of days time and head on down Italy first to Pisa, then we have to decide whether to go inland to Tuscany and Florence, or head straight down to Rome and come back via Tuscany. There are so many places in Tuscany that I want to visit… Siena, Cortona and many others and Florence is a really big must. My Italian is still pretty ropey and I want to improve it as I go.

So until the next time, I must say Arriverderci and Ciao for now, and please check out Nick’s facebook photos which include all our recent travels. The videos are also on Youtube, we have so far edited the UK/USA part of our travels and have just started on the Euro leg.