Brumablog

Completing a final travel blog from my home computer seems strangely out of sync with reality but here we go.  As you can imagine, things become very busy as you wrap-up a trip like this, and they don’t slow down immediately upon landing. It’s now been just over two weeks since our return to Victoria and so before additional summer events kick in, I’ll take a moment and polish off this 2024 trip by completing this last travel blog and sending it off to the book publisher.

Sailing from Dublin, we had a lovely and gentle crossing of the Irish Sea back to the port of Holyhead in Wales. Unfortunately on arrival we were greeted by thick clouds and heavy rain which was a bit disappointing. Overall the weather on this trip has been fantastic, not too cold, hot, or wet, so we’ve nothing to complain about in that regards. However, missing out on some of those beautiful Welsh mountain vistas was slightly disheartening especially considering what we could see was picture perfect. We drove south along the Welch coast to Pembroke and then cut eastward through the Black Mountains.  We slipped past busy Newport and Bristol and settled for a couple of days at a wonderful farm campground in South West England. 

On our way to Salisbury we visited the fascinating “Wilton House” where the young 18th Earl of Pembroke lives with his wife and daughters. It’s about five kilometres from the Salisbury Cathedral and much of this estate is open to the public when not in use by the family. What makes the country house so interesting is the personal treasures and  memorabilia randomly displayed throughout this grand home including a huge collection of Greek and Roman statuary and multiple paintings by van Dyck and other famous artists. It also has a fascinating history dating back to 1544 when Henry VIII granted the estate to Sir William Herbert. One interesting historical note was the impressive “Double Cube Room” which was the actual top secret location where during WWII Churchill and Eisenhower planned the D Day landings in Normandy. On the lighter side of interesting facts, this is where the NETFLIX series “The Crown” and “Bridgerton” are filmed.

After an expensive visit to Leeds Castle in Kent we eventually made our way to Folkestone (near Dover) and took the Eurotunnel train back to France. Over the next few days we made our way past Waterloo, Belgium into Germany, and north to Munster not far from Dulmen.  In the tiny village of Hiddingsel, Germany we enjoyed our final culinary experience at a wonderful little pub that was kitty-corner to our first amazing cuisine experience on Valentine’s Day, 2014. What a great way to end this part of our 2024 trip. 

We returned the motorhome to our friends at Dumo and hopped on a train to the Netherlands where we were once again greeted with wide and open arms by our amazing extended family there. I feel that over the years we’ve developed a special bond with these magnificent people who always make us feel so very much at home. Feeding us, housing us, entertaining us with theatre, harbour cruises and city tours makes us realize how lucky we are to have them in our lives. Thank you again for all your Dutch hospitality and the wonderful memories. 

KLM provided an excellent flying experience back to Victoria where we were so excited to reconnect with family and friends. Thank you Cam, Lia, boys and Winston for such a nice airport welcome despite some postponed luggage delivery. A quick trip to Portland a few days later to celebrate the twins 6th birthday was fun, heartwarming and long overdue. How fortunate we are to have such a wonderful loving family to return home too and ground us once again on the West Coast. 

Our decision to make the long drive north for a quick visit to Ireland turned out to be a good one. The return drive was long and faster than our preferred pace of travel but we’ve really enjoyed the two weather perfect weeks we’ve had to circumnavigate this beautiful Island.

Our first night in Ireland was spent in a Stellplatz at the rear of a fantastic pub just north of Dublin called “MAN O’ WAR”. Established in 1595, it was a great setting to begin our Irish tour and enjoy our first Irish stew and genuine draft Guinness beer.

In Belfast, a visit to the new interactive “Titanic Experience” was much more impressive and interesting than expected. It covered the building of the ship by the “White Star” company, the tragic sinking in 1912 and the story of it’s rediscovery in 1985. This large interpretation centre is constructed in the same location that the Titanic was actually built giving the entire experience an added boost of reality.

Londonderry, or “Derry”, was a very interesting place. We were impressed with the condition of the old walled city and the friendly nature of the people, the latter of which seemed in contrast to it’s divisive and violent past. As we strolled the area of where the “Bloody Sunday” riot took place in 1972 and visited the onsite museum we struggled with how such a tragic event could have happened amongst neighbours. We soon came to realize that the roots of the “Troubles” are very complex, date back hundreds of years and are not just religious in nature. Unfortunately, as we traveled about, we saw meaningful evidence of this continued division. Hopefully more time and more understanding will eventually smooth things over. On a happier note, we soon found ourselves exploring the first of three Irish Whiskey Distilleries (“Bushmills”) that someone we know well and trust completely, recommended. Very impressive, even for a beer fan.

We do enjoy seeing the larger cities and all the major attractions that they possess, but honestly, we now enjoy the rural adventure as much (if not more) than the civic experience. The small towns, incredible landscapes, wonderful people and amazing things we’ve seen and done along the way have provided us with many of our top notch memories. As we drive along some of these winding roads with stunningly beautiful things to look at I often think that it’s like driving through a giant interactive art museum.

Circumnavigating Ireland is a good example of that rural traveling experience. We saw miles of amazing coastal landscape with significant historical and natural importance, sites such as the “Cliffs of Moher”. They’re the biggest tourist attraction in Ireland and draw a million and a half visitors a year to peer over the edge of those magnificent cliffs. We arrived on a slow day so there were only about thirty busses in the bus parking lot at any given time. The cliff’s are very impressive and definitely worth a visit. One of my favourite destinations, not as well known and definitely not as busy, was near Clifden, Ireland. This is the location of two incredible human accomplishments. In 1907, on a huge peat bog, inventor Guglielmo Marconi built his first commercial transatlantic wireless transmission station and this massive complex structure opened the door for modern long distance radio communication. Marconi is considered the father of wireless communication and this is where the telecommunications industry got it’s start.

As a little side note… Marconi had passage booked on the Titanic but changed his mind and sailed three days earlier on a different boat (Lusitania) because that boat had a better public stenographer. Later, Marconi was given credit, and recognition, for saving the lives of those rescued from the Titanic because it was his radio transmission station and technology that sent rescue ships to the aid of those 705 surviving Titanic passengers.

The second claim to fame for this historically famous and isolated peat bog near Clifden deals with the aviation industry. This is the actual landing location of the very first non-stop transatlantic flight. British aviators John Alcock and Arthur Brown landed (crashed) there biplane here in 1919 after a 72 hour transatlantic crossing from St. John’s Newfoundland. Just consider how far the aviation industry has come in only one hundred years.

Green grass, rolling mountains, beautiful vistas, rugged stone fences and structures, wild ocean beaches, countless grazing sheep, wonderful little towns and terrific pubs make for a very poetic Irish statement. The “Ring of Kerry” has it all. What an amazing circle drive in Southern Ireland that is well worth the effort. The roads however can be a bit narrow at times and the saying “share the road” takes on a whole new meaning throughout Ireland but especially on the “Ring of Kerry”. Somehow with the help of folding mirrors, reverse gear, and WD40 everything worked quite smoothly for us but… I won’t mention the German motor-homer with poor spacial perception that took-out my passenger mirror reflector light with her mirror on a particularly tight squeeze.

We sailed back to Wales after a nice look around Dublin and an enlightening visit to another recommended whiskey distillery called “Teeling”. Great whiskey for sure but if you’re planning a trip here, I highly recommend you plan your tour after eating a big lunch.

It’s hard to believe that our three month trip through six new countries is coming to an end and we’ll soon be back in Victoria. I must say that we’re getting excited about returning home and seeing our family, but before that happens, we have a few more things to see and do including catching up with our wonderful friends in the Netherlands.

We made a decision regarding all that extra time we accumulated during our efficient (theoretically) travels in Türkiye. Why not go to Ireland? After studying the calendar we determined there was just enough time to visit England and Ireland as well. When we traveled the UK in 2016 we planned on visiting Ireland but as it turned out, time was running short for us and the weather there was a disaster. We therefore decided to save Ireland for a future trip where we could do it justice and spend more time exploring Wales. It appears that that time has just arrived. Driving from Turkiye to Ireland on the same trip may sound crazy to many considering the two locations are such a significant distance apart but, the fact is, Ireland is not that far away from Dumo in Germany where we’ll be returning the motorhome in June. So, regardless of wherever we were going to travel, we would need to cover most of this long drive north anyway. Actually we have just enough time for a relaxed visit to Ireland with time left over for some quality travel in Wales. This will then complete my list of visiting and exploring every EU country so… here we go!.

Leaving Mt. Olympia, our plan was to drive east to Albania through northern Greece but nasty weather in the mountain region had us change plans to a route further south. We entered Albania with few expectations other than what we had heard from other travellers, “a very nice country with friendly people”. Good to hear considering not that many years ago Albania was as locked down as North Korea is now. When Bert and I traveled Europe in 1972 the travel book we used had two words regarding Albania… “Forget it”.

I can pleasantly report that the Albania of today really impressed us with its natural beauty and it’s warm and welcoming people. In Shkoder we visited a historically significant castle high above our campground next door and met some locals dressed in traditional clothing on their way to a festival celebration. Albania is on the development ladder and still has a ways to go before it reaches the standards of Croatia but it’s clearly on its way to reaching that goal and I don’t think it’ll be long before Albania is a top travel destination. Did I mention that Albania is also a great economic bargain for travellers right now?

Further up the coast in Montenegro we stopped in another historically fantastic place called Kotor. This place is eye candy with a serious castle that was built on an almost vertical mountainside making it a real physical challenge to anyone wanting to explore it. We passed on that climbing experience. The huge and beautiful protected bay is a popular place for travellers in buses, cruise ships and motorhomes too, so you can imagine how crowded this confined area gets, especially during the summer.

Croatia is a fantastic country with a coastline unmatched in it’s beauty and after four visits we’re still not tired of it. We had a great stay in a very memorable campground on the Adriatic before heading inland to visit a UNESCO World Heritage park called “Plitvicka Jezera”. Wow, this is a massive and magical place with a stack of sixteen lakes that overflow themselves and send a blanket of water through the forest to each of the lakes below. Very impressive natural wonder but also very crowded. We opted for the short 6 kilometre walking tour winding up the mountain but as we walked along we were thinking about how much Karen and Steve would enjoy the 16 kilometre trail option.

After Croatia we made a beeee-line drive north for the English Channel. We drove across the top of rainy Italy, stopping in Verona of course, before heading to the 11.6 kilometre “Mont Blanc” tunnel into France. Interestingly, we added up the length of all the tunnels in very close proximity to each other and the total length including old Mont Blanc was over 35 kilometres. The newer tunnels BTW, are truly engineering marvels, not that ageing Mont Blanc tunnel isn’t. With quick stops at Lake Annecy and Reims we made it to Calais on the French Coast in record time with only about $340 in Tolls (Ouch).

We jumped on the ferry from Calais to Dover and carefully (on the wrong side of the road) drove to Canterbury, a favourite place of ours. From Canterbury we’ve driven up the east side of England and then across some beautiful English countryside towards Manchester. We’re now in northern Wales at a great campsite that we stayed at in 2016 as we wait for our ferry to Ireland (Holyhead to Dublin) on May 9th.

Sorry, I don’t have a map outlining our repositioning travel venture as I don’t have a map scaled small enough to show that much distance in one picture but, I don’t think that will be a problem regarding a map of Ireland.

We spent about a month exploring this amazing country, and despite the fact that both of us suffered from cold and flu symptoms for much of that time we still managed to really enjoy our time in Türkiye. We saw an amazing assortment of fascinating attractions as we moved through the country much faster than anticipated. This was partly because of the highly developed highway system here and the fact that we didn’t find any specific location where we wanted to drop anchor for an extended period of time. Also contributing to the quick touring pace was having done detailed preparation for the trip. Organizing a flexible agenda complete with GPS coordinates really elevates efficiency on the road. Preparing is a time consuming process but what a difference it makes when you’re zipping down that highway.

We left Seher and the Dekafok Turtle Sanctuary and drove a short distance to what is considered the best preserved Roman Theatres in the world, built in 162 AD. The “Aspendos Archaeological Site” is truly spectacular. This 12,000 seat theatre still hosts major events every year. Should I mention the impressive Roman ruins situated above the Theatre? Further along the coast is Antalya. A very big and busy city that surprised us with the incredibly large number of five star mega-resorts that lined the ocean front and created an unwelcoming security zone atmosphere. One noticeable eye-popping resort was called “The Kremlin Palace” highlighting the popularity of this coastline to Russian tourists.

The beautiful, and popular, seaside town of Kas was an experience for us. We drove into Kas through “vertical” streets crowded with people that provided 1/2 inch clearance between folded-in-mirrors. Locals are very respectful and quick to assist with “inch-by-inch” guidance through some very tight spots. I wish the impatient drivers behind us had the same respect; they do love their horns. BTW, this situation is a common occurrence in many small and large towns throughout the Mediterranean so many local drivers here seem proud to display vehicle side panel damage like battle scars.

Further along this historically jam packed coastline you find the resort town of Dalyan. The 4th century Lycian Tombs overlooking the Dalyan river make for an outstanding backdrop. We also had the best, and least expensive, donair we’ve ever had at a small shop just out of the main tourist section of Dalyan (worth noting).

Inland we drove to a truly dazzling location with three significant sites. The first one is Pamukkale (cotton castle) and we camped just below it. Visualize a spectacular calcium waterfall that has over time, created this massive white terrace. We walked (up and down) this terrace through mineral rich water, in bare feet, to gain access to the second fantastic location, Hierapolis. Located just above Pamukkale and built around a thermal spring this very impressive site dates back thousands of years to Hellenistic times. The third location, in a panoramic location about 15 km’s away, is called Laodikeia. What a fascinating and beautiful archaeological site this was, especially early in the morning before all the bus tours arrived.

Back to the Aegean Sea to visit another famous ancient city called Ephesus. Wow! This site is truly impressive and did not disappoint us in any way. The Greek city of Ephesus, built in 1000 BC, had a major influence on the entire ancient world with much of that influence carrying over to this day. Ephesus was a very important centre of worship and a big player in the spread of Christianity. It was also a major port and considered a city as magnificent as Rome itself.

After passing through the very nice but fast moving city of Izmir, we set our sights on Bergama (Pergamum). We had Kristen in our minds when we visited the Asklepion archaeological site. This was one of the ancient worlds main centres of learning and the great physician Galen was born here in 129 AD. He established a famous medical centre called the Asclepieum and this could be considered the world’s first official teaching hospital.

Troy was the last major stop on our tour of Türkiye and it turned out to be surprisingly interesting. We were told that it was just a pile of stones and not worth the $80 to see it. Wrong… a very fascinating site, location and history that dates back to 4000 BC and goes through nine layers of strata development with the last one being the Roman’s in 300 AD. Besides the legends that still keep us guessing, Troy has been famously excavated with many of it’s treasures being displayed in major museums around the world.

We’ve now entered Greece and are waiting out some rain at a great waterfront campsite just below Mount Olympus. Our plan is to start heading north through Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro and Croatia. We’re here earlier than expected so we’re now formulating a plan to utilize our extra time in the best way possible. We’ll keep you posted!

The amazing 12000 seat Roman Aspendos Theatre

After those energy-rich days exploring Istanbul we were ready for a reduction in pace and we got our wish at a great little campsite (La Cabana) on lake Iznik Golu not far from the Yalova ferry. The small city of Iznik can boast a very large and impressive story historically; it’s also famous for its porcelain tiles made here for many Sultans. We spent a couple of days relaxing on the lakeside, eating well at their restaurant, and doing some necessary laundry. We watched friendly local commercial fishermen net small fish they call “Hamsi”, similar to an anchovy. We joked around with the guys by playing the “animated language” game and when they eventually left, they gave a big bag of the little fish to the campground owner to prepare as part of our dinner. Like the fishermen, most of the Turkish people we’ve met are amazingly wonderful (unlike those little fish… in my opinion only). BTW, all the meals we had at this campground were fantastic including the eye-popping traditional “Turkish Breakfast”.

Moving on, we spent a travel night at the interesting Rainbow Hills before entering Ankara, the Capital of Turkiye. Very big, very modern and very busy. We planned on stopping here and visiting Ataturk’s Mausoleum. He was the father of Turkish democratic reform and modernization. He is truly revered by the people of Turkiye. Unfortunately for us it was a holiday, the mausoleum was packed with visitors and therefore parking was impossible. We squeezed in a lame sample picture from the road below, and moved on.

After a few hours of driving on an impressive, modern, six lane highway, we arrived at a location that is considered a world treasure. Cappadocia is a region with human connections that date back more than five thousands years. Amazing cave dwellings dug into the sides of soft volcanic cliff formations reminded me of Bedrock City for those of us that remember good old Fred and Barney from the 1960’s Flintstones Cartoons. “yabba-dabba-doo!” Cappadocia encompasses about 300 sq/km and it includes “ferry chimneys”, caves and underground cities. We visited one underground city that could accommodate 5,000 Christians, their animals and all the food necessary to survive an attack. We lasted about 15 minutes inside that freakishly amazing and impressive cave structure before feeling strangely claustrophobic and short of breath. For us, crawling through a small part of this structure was just about right. Cappadocia was also a major trading location on the “Spice Road” and was also known for its prized white horses. If all these facts are not enough to impress you, then I’m sure the modern “Hot Air Balloons” will. Every morning, wind permitting, the sky is filled with tourist filled balloon baskets gently floating over “Goreme”, the main town centre of Cappadocia. This is a very impressive spectacle to see, especially as the rising sun breaks over the distant mountains and lights-up the hundred plus colourful balloons. Wow!

Onward to the southern coastline of the Mediterranean that overlooks the mountains of Cyprus. We were caught by surprise as we thought this coastline would be quiet and quaint but apart from the steep mountainous region what we discovered was a busy built up coastline with many miles of modern mega-resorts and fancy condominiums.

We’ve now dropped anchor for a few days on the beach at Manavgat (Side). Here’s where we’ve sought out and made contact with a truly amazing woman doing truly incredible conservation work. We were introduced to Seher Akyol by another amazing and inspirational British couple by the names of Chris and Marianne Fisher. These two wonderful individuals also have a fantastic story and share it weekly in a popular YouTube site called “Tread the Globe”. Every week for the last four years we’ve faithfully followed their “around-the-world” event filled adventures driving their steadfast 2005 Fiat Campervan called “Trudy”. During the dark days of covid they were essentially locked-down in Turkiye so during that dreaded time they traveled the country extensively (interestingly, this is how we developed our desire to motorhome Turkiye). So… how does inspirational Seher Akyol fit into this picture? In this mega development rich area huge resort like complexes are starting to pop up all along these magnificent beaches and people looking for beach time were unintentionally destroying a crucial ocean turtle nesting ground located on Bogaz beach.

A number of years ago Seher quit her regular good job, set up a beach tent and went to work saving Caretta (Loggerhead) turtle nests and the baby turtle hatchlings. With no financial support she lived full time in her tent and worked tirelessly every day walking many kilometres up and down the beach in the hot sun locating the turtle nests, staking them out for protection, chasing away intruders, both day and night, and educating everyone she could.

Chris and Marianne happened to meet her during a leisurely stroll on that beach and Seher was excited to tell them all about her work; but it soon became obvious that she was hungry, exhausted, unsupported, and almost broken, all her hard work was in jeopardy.

This situation would never go unanswered by Chris and Marianne. Immediately they called out to there vast network of YouTube followers for any financial assistance possible. They helped Seher then, and continue to work with her now to provide the resources she needs to keep her important ecological project going. We’re on that list of contributors and we really wanted to meet this inspirational woman on our travels through Turkiye.

I’m happy to report that Seher is as wonderful in real life as she appears to be in all those “Tread The Globe” YouTube episodes. Has she made a difference? Yes! She has fought off the commercial development of this vital portion of Bogaz beach. She has obtained park status from the government for this delicate beach area. She’s had all the bright white lights along the beach altered so they don’t confuse the mother turtles as they come up the beach to lay their eggs during the nighttime. People now ask her for permission to walk on the beach. All large ocean going fishing boats with big nets must stay 27 kilometres off-shore, dramatically reducing the number of drowned turtles. She has carved out an education centre and provides lessons to thousands of children and adults every year at her Dekafok beach interpretation centre. She now works hand-in-hand with education and biology departments of major Universities. She has achieved national and international recognition and yet she still lives in the little interpretation centre on the beach guarding her turtles every day. But, best of all, she has saved many, many thousands of turtles and by educating people she has changed attitudes regarding the protection of these incredible animals.

Oh… BTW, as we were sitting with her and having coffee on the beach education observation platform, she picked up the phone and on speed dial, called Chris and Marianne who have just arrived in Calcutta, India where they’re waiting for Trudy to arrive by ship. We had a wonderful conversation with them and even made plans to meet them in August when they’ll be visiting on Vancouver Island.

Meeting Seher and experiencing her hard work saving the Caretta (Loggerhead) turtle will be one of the major highlights of our entire trip through Turkiye.

You can find more information about Seher Akyol and her passionate project at (www.dekafok.org.tr).

Early morning from our campsite

March 12 was an exciting day for us and it all began with another warm airport send-off from Cam. Thank you buddy for the ride and the encouraging words.

WestJet to Calgary then Toronto followed by a lengthy overnight KLM flight to Amsterdam. A long, tiring, awkward and guaranteed luggage looser flying ordeal… or so we thought. To our delight everything functioned like clock work; surprising us considering the relentless airline horror stories you hear so-much about these days. Flights were smooth, the layovers provided an opportunity to exercise our legs and with only half the KLM flight filled, we scored extra seating to stretch out on. Best of all… our checked bag arrived with us. Yah! Despite that extra KLM space we were still in need of recuperation on arrival at Schiphol Airport so the four minute walk to a king sized bed at the airport hotel I booked was a godsend. By the following morning we had basically crushed the Jet-lag and were all ready to hop on the train to Germany from the airport station. We arrived in Dulmen at about 2:30 pm where Martin (from Dumo) picked us up in what would be our brand new Burstner Motorhome. He drove us to Dumo Rent where we spent a couple of hours saying hello to everyone and taking care of rental details. First things first, a quick trip to the local superstore for some basic groceries and miscellaneous household items, then off to our first night at a Stellplatz in Dulmen. Our Burstner Motorhome was the perfect choice (thank you Dominik) for traveling to Türkiye in. A bit narrower than past units we’ve had yet very comfortable and better suited for those squeezeee Mediterranean roads.

We wasted no time getting started on our long southern journey and spent our second night in a familiar campsite in Kassel, Germany. They’re rebuilding the freeway system around Kassel so finding our way in and out was a real challenge and time consuming too. We exited the autobahn at Wurzburg to drive our preferred secondary roads that meandered through spectacular Bavarian countryside dotted with old towns and villages. We stopped for the night at a fantastic medieval walled village called Mainbernheim and after exploring the old town we had a delicious traditional German dinner in a Michelin rated restaurant that’s been operating since 1819. Night four was spent on a farm Stellplatz with a river view, near Passau. We shared coffee with the farmer and discussed world politics before purchasing a couple of bottles of wine from his collection and ending our fun evening in this beautiful rural hillside setting.

As we were close to Linz, Austria we decided to stop and visit the infamous Mauthausen Memorial Concentration Camp. It was built next to granite quarries where enslaved inmates produced building material for prestigious Nazi building projects. Many prisoners died carrying heavy blocks of granite up the “Stairs of Death” to the camp above. So many disturbing and horrific stories about this camp that should never be forgotten especially when you consider the crazy apoplectic political vacuum we see in the world today.

Onward to historic Graz, Austria that’s snuggled by mountains and is a great place for a days walking tour. Unfortunately getting to Graz will be expensive for us. In Austria you purchase what’s called a “Vignette” sticker to place on your front windshield if you’re driving on motorways. Essentially it’s a user pay road tax. Mechanical readers across the motorway read the vignette and if you don’t happen to have one, your licence plate is recorded and, ya-hoo! you’re sent an expensive penalty fine in the mail. “We don’t need a vignette… we’re just driving the secondary roads”. Oops! It was supposed to be the second right-turn about twenty meters AFTER the first right turn. Guess where the first right-turn road funnelled vehicles onto and guess which turn I took?. Ouch! Lesson learned. We zoomed across Hungary and we’re now close to the Romanian border so, Türkiye and all it’s delight, are almost in our sights.

Ten years ago on February 8th, 2014 Margot and I left Victoria to begin a year-long retirement motorhome adventure in Europe. It was truly the most amazing year imaginable. Since 2014 we’ve made three additional trips back to Europe with each one lasting about three months. We have visited many wonderful countries, seen incredible sites and experienced the very best of people and cultures. This never gets old for us and we seem to never tire of these experiences so… here we go again! On March 12th we’re off to our favourite destination… Europe 2024. This trip however will not only cover Europe but much of Türkiye as well. We’ll be driving our motorhome south through Romania and Bulgaria to ultimately explore the ancient world of Western Türkiye. This will actually be our second attempt at making this trip and hopefully turmoil in the world will not interfere with this plan as it did in 2022 when we diverted the trip to Portugal. Again, we’ll be renting the motorhome from our favourite dealership, Dumo Reisemobile in Dulmen-Hiddingsel, Germany where they have faithfully taken care of our motorhome needs and always treat us like family.

Once again, as you see, I’ll be firing up my BrumaBlog which is mainly intended for “Friends and Family” to help everyone keep track of where we are and what kinds of things we’re up to. I also use these Blogs to produce hard cover books of our travels that make gratifying journals with actual pages. I’ll try to keep the words to a minimum, pictures to a maximum, and not overwhelm your in box. Let the journey Begin!

Bruce

This beyond belated blog is intended to wrap-up and complete the story of our latest motorhome trip in Europe. For each of our major trips I eventually publish a travel book based on my published blog posts and then these postings become a chronological hardcover diary of our most significant trips together. Upon returning to Canada in June we became so busy, so quickly, I never did get a chance to complete the final blog entry for this trip and therefore this posting will fix that. 

May 25th – June 8th

After a traffic congested exit from amazing central Paris we headed eastward to Reims where we saw the magnificent Gothic Cathedral Notre-Dame and got an up-close sense of how it dominates the city centre with its grandeur. Onward we drove through the Champagne region with a wonderful drive along the “Route touristique du Champagne”. Miles of rolling hills with immaculately groomed vineyards and wineries of all types, size and age. Enough to impress even a die-hard beer drinker.  We camped the night in an “Aire” just outside the defensive walls and moat of a very interesting little fortress village called “Rocroy”. We can highly recommend the little bakery just off its main central square. North to Dunkirk then east along the popular Belgium coastline and on into the magnificent Netherlands. We skipped across the beautiful Dutch islands populated with picture perfect farms and villages as we made our way towards “The Hague”.  Along the way we saw first hand why the Dutch are considered worldwide as the masters of water management. The water control systems along this route are something you have to see to believe. Miles and miles of extremely high dikes, causeways with hundreds of flood gates, huge tunnels, locks, canals and bridges of all sizes. So impressive and so easily taken for granted when driving about the country’s beautifully groomed and dry lowlands. As rising water levels challenge many regions of the World, there is no question who should be in charge of trying to solve the problem, and then control it. 

Once we reached Leiden we were once again greeted with love and warm smiles from the best family relatives imaginable. It was a brief stop with Hedy and Kees to drop off some bulky luggage in preparation for our upcoming flight home from Schiphol Airport. We moved on quickly toward Dulmen Germany where we returned our rented motorhome to our good friends at Dumo Reisemobile.  Every-time we arrive here we feel like we’re among good and caring friends. Once again they took care of all the details. Michael & Anne, Jorn, Dominik, Eddy, Sanna, Sandra and all the Dumo staff make us feel like we can hardly wait for our next return trip to Dumo. Speaking of good friends, we cannot forget to include in this list Hendrick and his mom Anne who own and operate the Hotel Van-Lendt in Buldern just outside of Dulmen-Hiddingsel. Every stay we have with them is truly amazing in every way. It’s like a perfect reunion providing us with a chance to catch-up on all the latest news, and we never leave this beautiful hotel with the feeling of “this was just another transaction”. Thank you again to all of our wonderful Westphalia friends. 

And now back to Holland and a final few days of fun and heartfelt goodbyes with our dear friends and family there. Despite a minor covid related issue that required a few adjustments to the plans, we managed to have another wonderful visit with everyone and we will cherish this visit, like all our others, forever.

A little “Road Ramble”

Fancy-free living is not always care-free living. Unfortunately things can and do go wrong wherever you may be. When you’re on the road and your health and/or welfare is negatively impacted it can be extra stressful. Over the years we’ve been super fortunate in this regard and have experienced very few health related situations but on this trip we did have a few issues to deal with.  Some were illness related and one was hospital related. In all these cases the final results were positive including the overnight hospital scare I had in Quimper, France. Our desire to travel remains strong, but we’ve learned the value of having flexible “back-up” plans and procedures in place for as many situations as possible. Pre-organizing your thoughts and actions for various scenarios can potentially save you a great deal of stress, anxiety, and time. Generally a good idea for home living too, but even more important for when you’re traveling and on the road. Kinda like having an earthquake preparedness plan in place, but for traveling.          

Changing plans on the go:

This 2022 trip to Turkey unexpectedly morphed into an opportunity to revisit and explore new parts of previously traveled regions of Europe. Our original plan was to travel a circular route through Western Turkey arriving there via Romania and Bulgaria.  Unfortunately the Ukrainian war situation negatively impacted that plan. Not wanting to put additional stress on limited resources and harbouring a certain amount of apprehension about traveling in a turbulent region, we reluctantly decided to concentrate our travels on the Western side of Europe instead. Thankfully we had a predetermined plan B option available and though this was a discouraging turn of events for us, our real feelings of grief and concern were for the Ukrainian people impacted by this unnecessary Russian aggression. Hopefully this horrible situation will soon come to a peaceful and lasting conclusion.  

We really did enjoy our motorhome travels on this 2022 European adventure and even though we had to deal with a few minor setbacks along the way, we recognize how privileged and fortunate we’ve been to have had the opportunity to travel like this and we will never be taking that fact for granted.

After celebrating Margot’s birthday in splendid Albufeira, we started to make our way east along this increasingly popular resort-rich coastline towards Spain. Faro is not far from the border and things started out so well with us scoring a coveted camping space at a nearby campground on a beautiful sandspit beach. Unfortunately, however I ended up with what I think was food poisoning from some “fresh fish” and required a number of down days to fully recover.  As a result of loosing those days we had to move quickly along. We drove east through Sevilla turned left at Cordoba and made our way north towards Toledo (places we have enjoyed before in past trips). El Escorial, northwest of Madrid, was a very interesting stop for us with its incredible 16th century palace and nearby “Valley of the Fallen Monument”.  We capped off our visit to Spain with a really nice stop at the 1020-1287 Loarre Castle north of Zaragoza. What a fascinating castle, and the vista views from it’s defensive walls were absolutely stunning. Over and through (tunnel du Somport), the Pyrenees we drove onward into France. Bypassing Bordeaux we stopped at an interesting little place called Blaye that is situated further along the extremely long inlet into Bordeaux. Here a major and long standing fortification was built to protect Bordeaux from invading forces coming from the Atlantic and its origins date as far back as the Romans and Vikings.  Another more modern fortification further north was also an interesting stop. At St. Nazaire the Nazi’s built a huge fortified submarine repair and supply base that is still standing today and now used as a massive multi purpose structure. St Nazaire also has one of the largest dry docks in Europe and for this reason it was a major target of the Allied forces in WWII. In fact, the most daring commando raid in history took place here attempting to neutralize that dry dock and the details around that event makes for a very fascinating story, if your interested. I had a quiet and laid back birthday in Quimper, Brittany before we headed off to the Normandy coast for a overnight stop on Utah beach and a respectful visit to the Canadian war cemetery outside Caen. Onward to Paris where we completed another long walkabout that connected many of the major sites of Paris including Norte-Dame Cathedral that is still undergoing restoration from that dreadful fire. It’s now time to put our feet up for a couple of recovery days before wrapping things up and returning the motorhome back to Dumo Reismobile in Germany and completing this unpredictable 2022 adventure.