We knew that the popular tourist destinations would get fairly busy around the Easter holidays but we were surprised at just how crowded they became. Not only huge numbers of school kids on tour but also bus loads of North American and Asian tourists as well. Campgrounds nearing full capacity with local families kick starting a new season and many beaches in full swing.  It seemed more like mid July than mid April and considering the staggered Spring breaks in Europe, it’s lasted about a month long. 

Our original plan was to scoot across Italy rather quickly and considering how busy things turned out to be, this was a good decision. We have previously spent a fair amount of time in Italy and have experienced many of it’s major attractions so on this trip our only goal was to return to Pisa and Rome for some leisurely walkabouts and drive through some new unseen Italian regions. We did plan on spending some time on the Italian Rivera but it was so busy and crowded we decided to skirt it instead using the impressive, expensive, and fast moving “tunnel-to-bridge-to-tunnel” Toll road instead. Yes… Pisa and Rome were very busy but beautiful and very interesting as you would expect.  

With a better grasp of timing, we booked a, so-called, cabin on the overnight Ferry from Bari, Italy to Dubrovnik, Croatia on the well used 1980’s style “Jadrolinija Line”. With not much choice of boats or sailings at this time of year we had to hustle along to catch the April 25th sailing. Once on board we discovered our cabin with bunk beds and sink was about the same size as our large bathtub at home. Difficult for both to stand up at the same time, washrooms down the hall. Scary yes, but possible if we weren’t below the waterline and we actually had a window… The happy ending to this story was that with a cash only upgrade, we were relocated to a nice cabin with a real bathroom and window on deck seven. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a big smile on Margot’s face. The sailing was smooth, breakfast was good and the entrance into Dubrovnik harbour was beautiful. We parked our motorhome at the Port parking lot and walked up the long hill, through the massive city wall, and into Old Town. Another “Game of Thrones” film location.  Bert… I have to say that it’s not the same Dubrovnik that we saw in 1972. Still beautiful but so commercial, crowded and expensive. $60 for the privilege of walking atop the fortresses wall and $22 for two bottles of beer. I was sorry that Margot could not experience the same Dubrovnik that we did in 1972; minus those kids that stole the stickers off the back of our VW van.

After a few hours of walking the crowded tiny streets and stairways we were ready to pay our $35 parking fee and start our track northward. About 100 km up the coast we found a fantastic campground with only three other campers. From our “viewpoint” location we are just feet away from the emerald blue Adriatic and the most fantastic view possible. We plan on staying put for a few days of recovery and relaxation before moving on towards Split, amazingly those big buzzing crowds are quickly becoming a distant memory.

French side of the Pyrenees

Nearing “Rennes-le-Chateau” where they’re still looking for the “Holy Grail”

Tight canyon roads along the way

We love the Napoleon inspired tree lined roads

The wonderful medieval town of Carcassonne

Driving through countless little French towns

Pont du Gard aqueduct. A 2000 year-old Roman engineering marvel. This is the highest bridge they ever built

The Papal Palace in Avignon

The famous Pont du Avignon.  Our third visit and we’re still enjoying this place

A visit to the papal court where nine Popes resided between 1309 to 1377

Another little French town

South coast of France near Toulon

Sharing the road on our way to Nice

Nice in the background

Some beautiful rugged coastline

Driving through Nice

On to Monaco

We like the look of the old Monaco best

Driving some of the Italian Riviera

Driving east on the toll road… A typical view from a bridge between 2 tunnels

There must be fifty kilometres of tunnel between Monaco and Pizza

Genoa

Pisa!  This gate was a five minute walk from our campground

Still standing

Tuscany

ROME!

The Spanish Steps

Trevi Fountain and some admirers

And this is the famous fountain

Part of the Forum in Rome

St. Peter’s with Easter flowers still on the steps

Between Rome on the west coast and Pescara on the east coast

Small and very old villages everywhere

Newer towns too

Camping at Bisceglie, just north of Bari

Hanging out at our campground

3 hours to load that little ferry… really!

Backing the vehicles aboard didn’t help speed-up the process

The window of our “upgraded” cabin… worth every extra penny

A small part of Dubrovnik’s impressive fortified wall

Very narrow streets and lots of stairs

The old Dubrovnik harbour. Recognize this spot Bert?

And more stairs!

The beautiful Croatian coast

Neat and tidy farm stands along the roadway

Lots of lovely pebble beaches

Hundreds of kilometres of beautiful coast

How to BBQ in a wind storm

So much beauty along this coastline…  we’ve been told that the Islands are even better

Croatia has really impressed us and it has now become one of our favourite places

We started our journey north by driving directly from the expensive condo saturated “Costa del Sol” to the sarcastically named “Costa del Plastic-O”. This Spanish nickname is in reference to the seemingly endless plastic covered greenhouses that in many cases run from the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains to the edge of the water. We drove past these structures for over 150 kilometres and were surprised at how many were run down and surrounded with an atypical amount of roadside garbage. This was in such contrast to the upscale destination coastline that just preceded it. We did read that this area is now the main source of winter produce for all of Europe so economical and sustainability wise, this questionable sea of plastic has helped revitalize this region and make it a very important agricultural zone. If only they could somehow produce an environmentally friendly plastic that does not deteriorate into small shreds and litter the landscape. 

Spain does not have a shortage of sandy ocean beaches and all along the East coast you’ll find plenty of them along with an interesting mix of small cities, old Roman ruins and camping opportunities that abound. Some of these locations like the Costa Blanca coast line and the city of Valencia, are somewhat more beautiful then others.

While visiting Barcelona we stayed at our old campground on the beach from 2014. It’s near the international airport so our daily “wake-up” was 747’s taking off every minute or so, very interesting entertainment with our morning coffee but we were pleased when they stopped flying at night. Yesterday we took the bus into Barcelona and re-visited some of our favourite places including the magnificent Sagrada Familia. Uniquely designed by Antoni Gaudi it’s been under construction for 137 years and is still a number of years away from completion.  After a 5 year absence we did notice a huge increase in the number of illegal street venders. Some would argue that they provide a service, add colour and interest to the streets and provide vital employment. Others consider them a menace and a threat to the metropolis, but either way, Barcelona is such a beautiful city and has so much to offer a traveler. We decided to stay an extra day here so we could visit with Paul and Sally, a very nice and interesting couple from California that we met. Both are retired airline pilots and a short time ago they were flying those great big Airliners all over the world. They’ve slowed things down a bit now and with their motorhome, which is similar to our own RV at home, are taking a more “down-to-earth” look at some of the places they have been flying over for so many years. They also have a blog called www.AdventurAyers.com and we had a good  evening sharing travel tips, experiences, stories and destinations. Just before leaving Spain we stopped at a 4.5 star campground called Aquarius on the beach near the French border where we had previously arranged to “meet-up” with Michael Thyssen, his wife, and a group of their friends that meet annually at this campground for a couple of weeks of serious bicycle riding and relaxation. Michael is the owner of Dümo Reismobile, the motorhome dealership in Germany that we have dealt with since 2014. A wonderful group of people that fortunately for us, speak better English than we do German. When leaving we stopped at a very interesting local archeological site called Empuries (beside L’Escala, Spain) that Michael had told us about. It dates back to the 9th century BC and it’s the only known location where Greek, Roman and Iberian communities coexisted. This coexistence worked because Empuries was a major trading port and therefore peace and cooperation was mutually beneficial. Excavation of this massive site began in1908 and is presently only 25% complete. 

We did have a plan to travel through Andorra in the high Pyrenees into France but the area was experiencing snow and sub zero temperatures at the time so we decided to stick closer to the warmer and dryer coastline instead. We’re now in southern France and coming to terms with the fact that we’re half way through our trip so it’s now time to start focusing a little more attention to the planning map and calendar. 

Hope everything is going well at home… and in Hawaii (Cam, Lia, Benson, Peyton, Bob & Katie)

Everyone have a wonderful and Happy Easter!

So many beautiful beaches

6 lane highways are always an option, but we prefer the 2 lane

“Costa del Plastic-O”

Plastic…

And more plastic…

Like a sea of plastic.  Can you spot the local town?

Some other beautiful views of the Mediterranean coast

Old and new with amazing views

Nice little campground in Villajoyosa. A few blocks from a “top notch” chocolate factory

Time to relax…

And, time to work!

Look at that!

One of our little campgrounds

A bit too cool for a swim

Driving through a nice coastal town with a wide main street

The main gate (minus the wall) into old Valencia

Another old but cool front door

Orange juice or Lemonade?

Iglesia (Church-Museum) also has a very cool front door

These massive sculptured trees are an Australian import

So many hills… so many castles!

Margot does not like it when big trucks use our road

Roman amphitheater at Tarragona

Campground just outside of Barcelona

747 wake-up!

Our new “travel blog” friends Paul and Sally from California

A Barcelona boulevard

Gaudi’s outstanding Sagrada Familia. Too Large and too much detail to fit into one picture

Under construction for 137 years

Colourful Venetian mosaics are used throughout the church and will top all 13 towers

The west Passion side

Every day is laundry day in Spain and who needs a dryer

Beautiful beach just minutes from central Barcelona

Deals, deals and more deals!

Also minutes from central Barcelona

Same table from 2014

Camping Aquarius!

The Greek part of Empuries

The Roman part of Empuries

Old Roman wall with Roman concrete over the stone

Another beautiful beach

And another 4.5 star campground

We bid farewell to Paris and started our long run southwest to Spain’s Costa del Sol. We made our way through central France to Bordeaux and then after crossing into Spain we followed the Basque coastline to Santander. A sharp turn south led us through the western region of Spain and then some outstanding Roman historical sites that date back to hundreds of years before Christ. At times it’s almost hard to grasp that this stuff is real and that it’s not some sort of purpose built movie set. In fact, it’s the other way around and films from “Ben Hur” to the “Game of Thrones” have used these archaeological sites regularly as movie backdrops. What a privileged gift to experience these sites that in some cases even date back to prehistoric times and all that beautiful and diverse countryside along the way, is like an added bonus.  

By the time we reached Gibraltar we had encountered plenty of positive, impressive and professional tourist related experiences but then, to balance things out, there was the not-so-appreciated tourist restaurant “rip-off” scam we encountered. We’ve prided ourselves on our ability to spot and avoid the endless attempts of unscrupulous souls to access our travel money, but now, after one false move, our confidence has been crushed. We decided to stop at a respectfully looking pub style restaurant for a mid day “Tapa” treat in Segovia. Saw a good looking anchovy dish and asked the waiter/bar attendant how much it cost, in his broken English and gesturing hands, he implied 13 Euros ($20). A bit pricy for a little fishy snack, especially when your beer is added to that order… but what the heck. We sat down and waited for our slivery treat to arrive and when it came it was very good. Then it came time to pay, we were shocked at the bill, our 13 Euro anchovies miraculously turned into 30 Euro ($50) Anchovies! Hand boned “Anchovies from the North” he said. I asked to see a menu and a bogus English menu was finally produced from the back room, it did say 30 Euros. Another lesson learned; “never order anything unless you see the price in writing first”. We think we can still hear them laughing at the dumb tourists who just paid $50 for $3 Anchovies. But even worse than this new lesson was our own self inflicted wound in Merida. We were staying at a nice Stellplatz within walking distance of all the Roman ruins when early on the morning we were about to leave, we somehow managed to lock all our keys inside the motorhome. What a fiasco! I could almost touch my freshly poured cup of coffee. With plenty of failed attempts from the great city parking staff of 5 to regain entry (without damage) I finally insisted on calling a Lock Smith. After a short time a young fellow arrived and produced some specialized looking devices that he expertly used to pick the drivers door lock. Yah! And no damage! And, a bargain (I think) at 65 Euros ($100)… Such a nasty way to start our day and sooo painful when you think that we could have had two orders of “Anchovies from the North” for the same amount. Ouch!

Would make an offer on this place if it had a bigger yard

Beautiful French countryside

Another privately owned Château (Castle)

The martyred village of Oradour sur Glane is preserved like it was in 1944

642 inhabitants were massacred here by a Waffen-SS unit

World famous Lascaux prehistoric cave art. 17,000 years old

The original caves are closed to the general public and only a small number of experts are allowed in for research each year

They have recreated the exact cave experience for visitors.  The large and impressive interpretation centre provides models for further explanation and photographs 

A nice one-of-a-kind cave Château

Closing in on Bordeaux

Nazi submarine base in the Bordeaux harbour

Basque coastline

Small Basque fishing village

Guggenheim museum in Bilbao. Designed by Canadian Frank Gerry

Gaztelugatxe.  Also known as Dragonstone Island from the series “Game of Thrones”

Arch de Santa Maria. One of 12 medieval doors to the city of Burgos

Saint Mary Cathedral in Burgos. Construction began in 1221

Our Stellplatz outside a bull fighting ring in Segovia. A very short walk to the old centre

This amazing Roman aqueduct in the centre of Segovia was used for 2000 years

Our $50 dollar dish of “Anchovies from the North”

Fantastic views from the castle Alcázar de Segovia

Part of the Segovia medieval city wall

A national dance competition below the famous walls of Avila

Avila at sunrise

Part of the 12th century 2.5 km wall protecting Avila with 88 towers and 2500 battlements

This is one very impressive wall

Birthplace, and now the convent of Santa Teresa

Somehow it fit through

The main square in Salamanca

The University of Salamanca founded in 1134 is the 3rd oldest in the world

Surprisingly some of our best and most relaxing meals have come from campground restaurants

The Roman bridge at Merida

Merida Roman theatre built between 16 and 15 BC with a seating capacity of 6,000. Still being used today.

The Merida Roman amphitheater built in 8 BC held 14,000 and was mainly dedicated to life and death shows between gladiators and wild animals

Roman road to Córdoba

The Old

And the New!

A re-created bedroom at the museum of Roman Art

Mithreo’s House. A very large and elaborate home that must have belonged to a VIP

Aqueduct with two birds nests

Chariot racing was a popular event in Roman Merida and this 233 metre racetrack could accommodate 30,000 spectators

Italica, just outside of Sevilla was the first Roman city founded on the Iberian Peninsula in 206 BC.  This is the Ampitheatre, recognize the Dragon Pit from the “Game of Thrones”

You can almost hear the gladiators preparing for battle

And hear the crowds and wild beasts roar

Can you see Africa

View of Gibraltar from the west

Calahonda!  On the Costa del Sol