Andorra and Barcelona - Happy Christmas!

Hello everyone

 

Our time in Andorra was short and sweet, and although there was snow on the mountains, there wasn’t enough to ski on. A busy road winds its way through the valley floor, with small towns clinging to the mountain sides. The capital Andorra le Vell was extremely busy with shoppers taking advantage of the tax-free prices. We were stopped by the police on exiting (as anticipated), and waved through once they had established we didn’t have boxes of cigarettes stashed aboard!

 

Our first impression of Spain was its vastness and colour- the earth ranges from pale ochre to deep brick red. Although there was snow on the high ground, everywhere looked dry and there were still some leaves on the trees. The weather has been cool especially at night, which is a problem as our blown-air heating has just stopped working!

 

We made our way southwards along the Costa Brava and are now on a large campsite a bus ride away from Barcelona along with many other British folk spending their winters here.

 

 

 

We’ve been into Barcelona (on the leisurely bus) to visit the Sagrada Familia – a most spectacular place although it’s still under construction – only the Nativity façade is complete – and the interior is bathed in light from the stained glass windows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took a look at Gaudi's work at Casa Batilo and Casa Mila 'La Pedera'.  We plan to visit the remaining sights over the coming week or so.

 

 

 

 

Our Christmas decorations are now up in the van, and we’ve done our shopping with enough food to last us a month. The weather is beautiful – sunny skies and daytime temperatures of 20°C!

 

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year

 Will post again in 2015 - love to all

Southern France

Hello everyone

 

Pont du Gard is a beautiful Roman aqueduct built in 90AD and is remarkably intact. The water channel at the top is still covered in places, and at 49m tall it is believed to be the highest aqueduct the Romans built.

 

 

From here we headed south to Arles with its Roman amphitheatre – still in use today as a bull fighting ring.

Next, we drove south to the Camargue which is a huge wetland area renowned for its wildlife.

We were richly rewarded; black bulls with huge horns raised here for the local bullfighting, the white horses used to herd them, cattle egrets, herons, beavers in the roadside dykes and the beautiful pink flamingos feeding in the brackish shallows.

We travelled through Montpellier and northwards via the Dourbie Gorge – the deepest gorge in France and a beautiful drive - to go and have a look at the Millau viaduct. It’s an impressive sight and looks quite delicate high above the Tarn valley. We had the Visitor’s Centre to ourselves as we learned about its 400 million € construction.

 

From here we drove through Grand Causses and over the Mountains of Lacaune with recent snow throughout, before dropping down into Carcassonne. The citadel, set in the old medieval town La Cité, is a magical sight. We arrived late afternoon, and again had the place pretty much to ourselves as we mooched around.

 

We’ve just crossed the border into Andorra and filled up with diesel at 82 pence a litre!

Will post again next week - love to all

Pisa, Monaco, and a few days in Provence

Hello everyone

We arrived in Pisa to warm sunshine after a night of torrential rain and a tremendous thunderstorm. The Leaning Tower of Pisa stands next to the Cathedral within a green quadrangle with the Baptistery at the opposite end. The Cemetery building makes up the foursome.

 

The leaning tower really does look as though it could topple over – the top section leans a lot less than the lower section, and the marble carvings are beautiful. The large cathedral has a gold mosaic fresco above the altar and an intricately carved marble pulpit. The baptistery is vast inside with a similar, but smaller pulpit – there’s no visible font though.

 

Leaving Pisa, we took the motorway along the Bay of Genoa towards France. On leaving the motorway, we were stopped by French police, who asked to see inside our van – we reckon business was slow, and they were keen for a chat about our travels!

Monaco is a tiny place, and Monte Carlo was very busy with people, fast super cars and huge super yachts. There was no opportunity to park the van though, so after a leisurely drive through, we continued towards Nice where we enjoyed the sunset from the promenade.

 

We drove through Provence – a scenic drive through rolling green hills and we’re now in Avignon. The town is surrounded by medieval walls with ramparts, and the Palais des Papes is huge.

Part-way across the River Rhone is the Pont St-Benezet – only 4 arches of the original 22 still remain and it has a small church on the bridge. Avignon’s Christmas markets give the place a festive feel.

Our next port of call is the Pont du Gard just north from here.

Our door map is filling nicely with the 23 countries we’ve visited so far (no stickers for San Marino and Monaco unfortunately as they are so small), and our mileage so far is 18,824.

Will post again next week - love to all

Florence and Rome (via home)

Hello everyone

We left the Dolomites and headed south towards Florence which is a small and compact city. The cathedral is clad in white, pink and green marble with a terracotta dome and so beautiful standing next to the equally striking campanile. The Ponte Vecchio Bridge over the River Arno is home to many small but exclusive jewellery and gold shops – definitely window shopping only!

From here we drove to Ciampino where we left the van for our short break back home. It was lovely to see so many of you and catch-up, and sample the delicious (proper) beer and cider at The Snug beer festival!

Our flights to and from Manchester ran like clockwork, and Kathryn and Sophie joined us on the return trip – we were ready to hit the sights.

 

We arrived at St Peter’s piazza to see and hear Pope Francis address the crowds, before visiting the vast Vatican museums and Sistine Chapel. The wealth of art on display is amazing, and we could have spent a day in here.

 

 

 

 

The Colosseum is huge, especially seeing the extensive network of rooms below the arena where the animals were caged before battle commenced. 

Tucked away amongst the side streets is the elaborate Trevi fountain – unfortunately partly covered for restoration and cleaning at present with the Spanish Steps a short walk away.

 

 

St Peter’s basilica is breathtakingly beautiful inside. We climbed up to dome’s interior to view the mosaic ceilings up close, and appreciate the size and scale of the space below. Then up more steps, we exited at the top of the dome for views of the Vatican City and Rome below.

 

 

Returning to the ground floor, we admired Michelangelo’s Pieta, saw the inlaid keys of St Peter, and the huge bronze canopy reserved for the papal mass. Below this is the beautifully decorated tomb of St Peter.

We’ve enjoyed Rome, but will leave tomorrow and head north to Pisa.

Will post again next week - love to all

Slovenia

Hello everyone

The Skocjan Caves were fantastic. A short walk led us to an artificial entrance where we descended into the ‘Silent Cave’ where the temperature is a constant 12°C. Next was the ‘Murmuring Cave’ – so called because you can hear the River Reka running through it - said to be the world’s largest subterranean canyon at 300m long, 60m wide and 100m high.

We’d had constant rain for the previous few days so the river was thundering through – it usually flows at 6m³ per second, but on that day it was flowing at over 200m³ per second. Crossing the narrow 45m high Cerkvenic Bridge was truly magnificent, but unfortunately, no photos allowed in here.

 

A short drive away was Predjama Castle, amazingly built into the rocky cave half way up a 123m high vertical cliff in the 16^th century, although an earlier building dates back to the 12^th century. We took a tour of the castle – set over 6 floors the dungeons and stables are housed below, and on the top floor is a passage leading back deep into the cave system. There are miles more of cave systems below the castle, but closed over the winter so the hibernating bats are undisturbed.

 

 

 

Next, we visited Ljubljana. This is a lovely capital city, and with a population of 280,000, it is small but very welcoming. Its castle is perched on a hill with great views of the city, including the cathedral and triple bridge over the river. We spent a couple of days here living city life before heading for the Triglav National Park – sadly a brief visit due to the constant rain.

 

The small town of Bled near the Austrian border is incredibly picturesque, with its church on an island on the lake – an image often used by the Slovene tourist board. A walk around the lake took us 1 ^1/2 hours, and it was blissful to enjoy the sights without all the summer tourists!

 

After a drive through the beautiful Soca Valley, we headed north skipping across the Austrian and Italian borders and are now in the Dolomites. These mountain drives have offered spectacular scenery with the trees in their autumn colours, and there’s a sprinkling of snow high on the summits. We're currently on a camperstop in Covara - how’s that for a view!

 

Will post again soon - love to all

Croatia

Hello everyone

We set off on the coastal route south through Croatia marked on our map as a scenic drive – and it was. The road hugs the coastline but is set high offering lovely views of the sea and the small villages set within the coves. The sea is crystal clear and the area is renowned for diving.

 

Our first port of call was Zadar - a pretty town with Roman ruins near St Donat's church in the centre. The weather had improved and we were back in shorts and T-shirts as we ambled around.

 On the waterfront is the impressive ‘Sea Organ’ – a series of 7 marble steps leading into the sea underneath which are pipes and bellows which create a pan-pipe-type sound when the waves lap. It was a mesmerising sound increasing in volume when boats passed! Next to this is the ‘Salute to the Sun’ – a huge disc of small solar panels set into the ground which absorb the sunlight and then produce dancing multi-coloured light patterns after dark. Watching this whilst listening to the wave music was fascinating.

From here, we continued southwards stopping off at Primosten – a typical coastal town set on a small promontory with a church at the top of the central hill. As the tourists have now left, we had the place pretty much to ourselves to mooch around.

Split is a much larger and busier town than Zadar. We visited Diocletian’s Palace – built in 305AD, but now a ruined shell filled with cafes and bars. Next to it is the mausoleum with beautiful Corinthian columns inside - this has since been converted into the town’s cathedral.

There were no overnight camping opportunities in Split, so we headed inland.

 

Turning northwards, we headed for the Plitvice Lakes National Park. There are 16 lakes over 8km with water rushing from lake to lake via a series of waterfalls. Surrounding the lakes are forests, whose leaves shone gold and bronze when the sun occasionally came out. We walked through the lake area on wooden boardwalks to see the falls up close – a truly beautiful place.

 

 

 

 

We’ve now crossed the border and are in Slovenia again, planning on visiting the Skocjan Caves later today.

Will post again next week - love to all

San Marino and Venice

Hello everyone

We crossed country through rolling hills and headed north along the eastern coast – a much more relaxed drive compared with further south with wider roads and less erratic driving!

 

We decided to visit San Marino – a tiny republic set high on a hill top with fantastic views over the surrounding area – it covers 24 square miles with a population of just over 30,000. Although it uses the euro currency, it’s not in Europe. From the free car park, a steep walk led us up to the old town which has 3 castles perched atop the hill. There were several small shops selling guns, knives, perfume, leather and designer goods seemingly catering for the noticeable Russian-speaking visitors.

 

From here we continued north to Venice, across the flat terrain of lakes and wetlands – reminiscent of Holland many months ago. We stayed at a campsite at Mestre on the mainland and took the 10 minute bus ride across the causeway to Piazzale Roma where all land transport ceases.

 

Venice is such a beautiful place – around every corner there is a picturesque canal and bridge. The weather was perfect for ambling around – clear blue skies and warm in the sun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived early in the mornings, so the crowds were bearable around Piazza San Marco, the Basillica and the Ponte di Rialto, but it’s easy to lose the crowds away from the main sights. We spent a couple of days soaking up the atmosphere, enjoying the food and sampling a few of the small local bars.

We then travelled towards Trieste. The weather has changed over the last week – it’s much colder (especially at night) with an autumnal feel, but the skies are still clear and sunny. We left Italy early this morning, had breakfast in Slovenia and are now in Croatia on the wedge-shaped Istrian peninsula. We visited the Roman amphitheatre in Pula, and now camped at Rabac overlooking the Kvarner Gulf and enjoying the view.

Will post again next week - love to all