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| Home Base |
NETHERLANDS
May 15th Left jolly old England via the Harwich ferry to a cold miserable morning at Hoek van Holland. Headed across the Netherlands to Venlo to meet up with Dutchman Peter over some frikkadel and frites.Looked over the corpse of St Benedict (c600) at Thorn and headed south. FRANCE
May 17th Hit Sedan then Five (5) of us slept in the Kombi at Charleville..The Ardennes, Reims (war-damaged cathedral+Roman Forum remains), Sezanne, sleeping at Nugent-sur-Seine before hitting Fountainbleau, Orleans, quoffing crepe avec confitures and excellent red wine all through the pretty rural countryside. Next Chambord on our way to camping at Bracieux (extra francs for a warm shower) . 
SPAIN
May 24th: San Sebastian before smoggy, industrial Bilbao.Travelled to Torrelavega and beautiful Santillana-del-Mar. -an untouched mediaeval village and its' 12th century church. Up the road: the prehistoric cave paintings of Altamira. Crossed the snowy Pyrenees through the 1100 metre Escudos Pass leading to Burgos and the castle where where el Cid used to hang out. Nobody had heard of "El Cid"... they kept referring to some joker called "El Thithz" Maybe a relation? Next came Valladolid and Tordesillas ( of famous treaty fame) with its Moorish palace converted into a church, and nearby Medina del Campos, built of Roman Bricks. Historic and picturesque (an overworked word but worthily used here) walled city of Avila. The great, still functioning Roman aqueduct at Segovia made for memorable photos and then on to the Alcazar. Spanish Castles ? You gotta love 'em !!
The 1860m pass at Nevacerrada got us to the mighty Valle de los Caidos memorial area !! cameras everywhere. The el Escorial Palace and then we were in Madrid. Got around by cheap public transport and managed a bullfight.
Moved on to Toledo - one of the great places in Spain. Spent much quality time in the swimming pool for the best part of a week. Not a great hardship. Toledo would have to be one of the best places to spend time waiting for visas ! Next stop Aranjuez.
Moved on to Toledo - one of the great places in Spain. Spent much quality time in the swimming pool for the best part of a week. Not a great hardship. Toledo would have to be one of the best places to spend time waiting for visas ! Next stop Aranjuez.
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| Avila |
June 7th -leaving Madrid after farewelling our friends Alan and Maureen, we were
overtaken by a Lamborghini which we later came across upside down and burning intensely. Excellent cars don't necessarily mean accomplished drivers. Trujillo followed by Caceres -both beautiful little towns on the way to Merida... an extravaganza of Roman antiquities and architecture. Badajoz and then to the Portuguese border PORTUGAL
June 9th :Cold winds in Evora, a neat, interesting town with an intact Roman temple. Quite different to Spain.Country roads were being re-paved with cobbles, mile after mile ! We got to an amazing bullfight at Reguengos de Monsarraz -quite different to the Spanish ones. The bull is given a fighting chance ! The bull is taken by the tail and then by the horns -the brave way! The local fiesta was also a good one. We were unable to buy a beer for ourselves due to the generosity of the locals. Left travelling through Beja and on to the Algarve. where there were lots of sunseeking English tourists, especially at Faro... We took the ferry to Spain at Huelvo.
SPAIN.
June 14th Seville -dignified and HOT with the mighty cathedral holding Christopher Columbus who had achieved considerable fame. Looking at the giralda tower we had our VW broken into which necessitated much chatting to the police. Not much hope there.
Nearby Roman ruins of Italica which was Emperor Trajan's birthplace -local boy done good ! Not far to Cordoba with its spectacular mosque/cathedral which is really worth the visit. Granada -we fell under its spell! The southern part of Spain really has tremendous treasure and photogenic sights. We needed over 4 hours to "do" the Alhambra. Over the Sierra Nevada to the "Costa del Anglotourista" (Malaga and Torremolinos) to Gibraltar. No border crossing possible at this time as Spanish wanted their land back. Spent a few days in Algericas where Bev spilt scalding hot oil on her leg -a serious incident in hot weather. We discovered the "oleo" is not the Spanish word for "oil". (it's aceite apparently) Met up with Aussies Steve and Neville who decided to join us on our next escapade.
Nearby Roman ruins of Italica which was Emperor Trajan's birthplace -local boy done good ! Not far to Cordoba with its spectacular mosque/cathedral which is really worth the visit. Granada -we fell under its spell! The southern part of Spain really has tremendous treasure and photogenic sights. We needed over 4 hours to "do" the Alhambra. Over the Sierra Nevada to the "Costa del Anglotourista" (Malaga and Torremolinos) to Gibraltar. No border crossing possible at this time as Spanish wanted their land back. Spent a few days in Algericas where Bev spilt scalding hot oil on her leg -a serious incident in hot weather. We discovered the "oleo" is not the Spanish word for "oil". (it's aceite apparently) Met up with Aussies Steve and Neville who decided to join us on our next escapade.
MOROCCO
June 25th Port city of Ceuta our departure point for Tangiers -the city of intrigue (so they say) This country is quite a change from Europe. More roman stuff at Lixus and then on to Larache. Further down the road we came across what appeared to be a French tourist involved in a fatal accident with a local kid. It didn't look like a good situation. We made it to Rabat for the night. We were invited to dine with a French-Moroccan couple - fine lunch before investigating the local Royal Palace and associated Mosque. This area had been strafed by the Moroccan Air Force the year before and was to be attacked again the year following our visit as local politics acquired a form of equilibrium. Further new and impressive construction with the Mausoleum of King Mahomed V.
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| Djem el Fna Square |
Photographically, this is one hell of a place, with all sorts of scenes, happenings and interesting folk doing unusual things. Feel fortunate to have witnessed this place. We needed a guide and there were plenty… all 13years old and all inevitably named Abdul. We waffled around the campground and also visited the Bahia palace and the cemetery of the Saadian Kings.
July 4th found us tackling the High Atlas Mountains on our way inland to the Dades Valley via Boumienne and Ksar-es-Souk suffering temperatures of 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Drove through serious sandstorms to reach the city limits of Rissani, the final outpost of the Roman Empire. I can see why they went no further! Five people were fed for a day with just 2 loaves of bread and one watermelon. A miracle !
July 6th Meknes and the Roman city of Volulbulis – a considerable sight.. Next stop Fez and its Royal Palace and interesting Medina. 110k to Taza. Encountered a “Fantasia” as a roadside spectacle before continuing to Ouijda –an interestingly named town.
ALGERIA
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| Algerian Coast |
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| New Holiday Resort |
The coastline along the Mediterranean here was nothing short of magnificent. Dotted with”ruines Romains” with the big one, the Roman city of Tipasa in miraculously good condition.
A huge new tourist complex was being built here ! July 13th entered Algiers, a fabulously sited city all in white with balconies much in evidence. After quality time spent here we started off in the direction of Djemila, a huge Roman city.. Travelling through Lambresi Praetorium (Roman military retirement village) we finally made it to Timgad with extensive well kept Roman ruins on a grand scale. Exquisite baths in these Roman cities indicated that life in these places was very sweet 1600 years ago when this land was the “Granary of Rome”. Neaby was Hamam Meskoutine, the world’s second hottest spa. Never found out where the hottest one was !
July 19th Palermo -Sicilian traffic chaos as we skirted around fallen scaffolding mid-town. Horn blasts by the locals didn’t seem to get things moving much at all. 8000 preserved corpses awaited us at the Cappucin Catacombs before enjoying the Norman Cathedral of Monreale – magnificent ! Nearby the near-complete Greek temple of Segesta and another at Selenunte. Camped on the beach of Eraclea Minoa for the night. Next stop: Agrigento –more Greek temple complexes. Syracusa-Catania and then the long climb to Mt Etna – a thrillseeker’s paradise.
Stayed the night up there because it
seemed so exotic ! (it was !!) Taormina next where we were refused entrance to the Greek Theatre for some obscure reason.. July 26th Messina for the ferry across to Reggio di Calabria. Following up on this we got the Autostrada to Paestum –yes…more Greek stuff but in great shape. More Autostradas to Salerno then the Oh-so-spectacular Amalfi Coast. Visiting Pompeii again it seemed just right that we should camp on the sides of Vesuvius drinking Vesuvian wine.
Naples Archaeological Museum is hard to pass up as it has so much of worth to see.
A lightning trip through Herculaneum again and then Ostia Antica before heading to Rome (most roads seemed to lead there !) at Camping Monte Antennae. Hit all the usual stupendous sights again but it was worth it. Some guy was accusing everyone at the Vatican of being “pagans” but I’m not sure if he was including us. He was arrested and bundled off before I could clarify this with him unfortunately.
Hadrian’s Villa at Tivoli was mercifully traffic free. Boy that guy knew how to live ! August 3rd Pisa (again) for creative photos (again) Grotesque interests led us to the celebrated graveyard near Genoa –camped on a mosquito laden marsh before tackling the St Bernard Pass into Switzerland.
August 6th Magnificent alpine scenery where we had camped a few metres from the top. Saw Chamonix and Mt Blanc, Geneva and Lausanne before passing through to Berne with its bear-pits. Fondue ?? before Basel.
August 8th Colmar and Strasburg, very German looking French towns –I’m sure they had their reasons ! Camped overnight in a “Jardin Botanique” whatever that means ! Went to Metz.
NETHERLANDS
August 10th Maastricht –lovely church but it cost money = didn’t visit it. Settled back in Venlo. Visited the Evoluon in Eindhoven.
BELGIUM
August 12th camped at the side of an Autobahn –nice! Morning it was hard NOT to step in human ordure, (excrement to you!) everywhere! Drove to Brugge –a nice city.
FRANCE
Calais for the Hovercraft. Put the fillings in my teeth to the test!
ENGLAND
A huge new tourist complex was being built here ! July 13th entered Algiers, a fabulously sited city all in white with balconies much in evidence. After quality time spent here we started off in the direction of Djemila, a huge Roman city.. Travelling through Lambresi Praetorium (Roman military retirement village) we finally made it to Timgad with extensive well kept Roman ruins on a grand scale. Exquisite baths in these Roman cities indicated that life in these places was very sweet 1600 years ago when this land was the “Granary of Rome”. Neaby was Hamam Meskoutine, the world’s second hottest spa. Never found out where the hottest one was ! TUNISIA
July 17th Set out for Dougga which was a Roman city built over a tribal road plan (no Decumanus Maximus let alone a Cardo). Tunis found us sharing a table with kiwis for a memorable fish and bread meal at the waterfront waiting for the ferry to Sicily.
ITALY
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| So this is what's inside !! |
Stayed the night up there because it
seemed so exotic ! (it was !!) Taormina next where we were refused entrance to the Greek Theatre for some obscure reason.. July 26th Messina for the ferry across to Reggio di Calabria. Following up on this we got the Autostrada to Paestum –yes…more Greek stuff but in great shape. More Autostradas to Salerno then the Oh-so-spectacular Amalfi Coast. Visiting Pompeii again it seemed just right that we should camp on the sides of Vesuvius drinking Vesuvian wine. 
Naples Archaeological Museum is hard to pass up as it has so much of worth to see. 
A lightning trip through Herculaneum again and then Ostia Antica before heading to Rome (most roads seemed to lead there !) at Camping Monte Antennae. Hit all the usual stupendous sights again but it was worth it. Some guy was accusing everyone at the Vatican of being “pagans” but I’m not sure if he was including us. He was arrested and bundled off before I could clarify this with him unfortunately.  |
| Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli |
SWITZERLAND
August 6th Magnificent alpine scenery where we had camped a few metres from the top. Saw Chamonix and Mt Blanc, Geneva and Lausanne before passing through to Berne with its bear-pits. Fondue ?? before Basel.FRANCE
August 8th Colmar and Strasburg, very German looking French towns –I’m sure they had their reasons ! Camped overnight in a “Jardin Botanique” whatever that means ! Went to Metz.LUXEMBURG
BELGIUM
Visited the “Nuts” museum at Bastogne, the location of the famous “Battle of the Bulge”. A newly developing housing estate at Liege provided us with camping for the night.
NETHERLANDSAugust 10th Maastricht –lovely church but it cost money = didn’t visit it. Settled back in Venlo. Visited the Evoluon in Eindhoven.
BELGIUM
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| Mannekin Pis |
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| Bastogne |
FRANCE
Calais for the Hovercraft. Put the fillings in my teeth to the test!ENGLAND
A campsite by the side of the road at Faversham. August 14th –next day finally drove into Shepherd’s Bush but spent the night at a friend’s place in Twickenham. A job offfer at Ealing Broadway within the week; –I had rejoined the workforce !
