Brumablog

After leaving Arles, France we drove a short distance to an interesting coastal holiday destination called “La Grand Motte”. This massive seaside apartment/marina complex is based on the design conception of one architect. Jean Balladur’s wave like pyramidal shaped buildings are intended to blend into the natural environment when viewed from boats offshore. Our first close-up impressions of this 60’s era resort were not that great but then when you see large sections of this complex from a distant vantage point, I must admit, it is impressive and it’s still a study destination for many architectural students. Onward to Andorra which today does not resemble the country that Bert and I visited in 1972 where we parked our VW van at the top of a mountain because we got good radio reception and then almost froze to death during the cold icy night. Actually many of those mountain tops are now populated with somewhat impressively large ski resort developments. Combining awesome skiing with tax free shopping has created a mega European winter  destination and has rendered this entire little nation unrecognizable via my 1972 experience. We actually moved through busy little Andorra fairly quickly (which is not too hard to do considering it’s size) but lucky for us, diesel fuel was a bargain on the way out.  

Spain is a fascinating country and is truly one of our favourite destinations. It has so much natural beauty, culture and history to offer that it’s impossible not to be impressed with it. With limited knowledge about the northern part of Spain we called on Kees to help guide us along and he did not disappoint. Extremely well informed and an experienced traveler throughout Spain he graciously shared some wonderful ideas and destinations with us… thank you once again Kees. Zaragoza, Logrono, the wine district of Rioja, Burgos, Leon, Astorga and Ponferrada along the “Camino de Santiago” (Pilgrimage walk to Santiago de Compostela) were all great suggestions. Also of interest was a fascinating archaeological site we stumbled upon in the Atapuerca Mountains. Here, Europe’s oldest human remains were accidentally discovered by railway construction workers cutting a trench for a new railway line. Some artifacts and human fossils date back an astounding 1.2 million years. They are still excavating this site. 

Into Portugal and down the coast to Porto we drove. The weather cooperated and we had a great time exploring the old town and eating the best Portuguese sandwich ever (as promised)… twice!  Continuing south we stopped in at the surfers mecca of Nazare. Here you find the largest surfing waves in the world (they can reach over one hundred feet high) and this is the place where surfing records are set. Even though the waves were rather tame during our visit we were still able to experience this beautiful and busy place bursting with its surfer energy and mixed together with the atmosphere of a traditional Portuguese fishing village. It was a very cool place to spend a relaxing sunny day. We are now in the Algrave area on the South coast of Portugal and working our way back east again towards Spain. From this point on, we have no real agenda as we start our return trip north so we’ll just follow our instincts and drive the roads less traveled.

From Venice we drove a short distance south to one of the smallest countries in the world, San Marino (60.5 Km2). It basically covers the upper part of a small mountain and with its impressive cliff hanging medieval fortifications it has maintained its independence since the 11th century. Interestingly, it’s also considered the oldest Republic in the world. Next we made our way to another beautiful mountain top town called Assisi (thanks George for this recommendation) to visit the birthplace of St. Francis  (namesake of San Francisco) and the impressive two level Basilica di San Francesco. All very impressive, especially when lit up at night from our campground below. Hadrian’s Villa east of Rome was our next stop and we were not disappointed. This place is amazing as well as amazingly vast. I knew that a Roman emperors summer villa would have to be larger than your average country club but this place is ridiculously gigantic. Its large, impressive, and well preserved ruins sprawl over an area the size of a small town making it a challenge to visit in just one afternoon. 

We made a quick stop in Rome to re-visit some of our favourite places and an interesting new visit to the”Castel Sant’Angelo” before heading to Pompeii and Naples. A rental car drive through Sorrento and along the compact Amalfi coastline was a driving challenge but a great way to complete this southern part of our Italian journey. After a quick scoot north we exited the toll road northwest of Rome and then followed the coastline past Pisa. The quick driving pace did not end at Pisa as we were now focused on reaching Spain and Portugal as soon as we comfortably could. Therefore, a few more toll roads required until reaching Monaco where we could no longer resist the temptation to drive along the Riviera coastline roadway all the way to Marseille, France. This blog concludes with us spending a great day visiting the World Heritage Site, Arles, France. This is the location where Vincent Van Gogh spent time recovering in a hospital and also painting a number of priceless paintings.

Crossing quickly over the Alps from Fussen, Germany and waving to a few late spring skiers along the way we arrived in one of our favourite locations in northern Italy. Highway 38 and 40 is lined with apple orchards and vineyards and passes through a magnificent alpine valley dotted with medieval castles all the way to Merano. Unfortunately, and a little disappointing for us, this fruitful valley was still a few weeks away from it’s glorious spring bloom. But, this drive is worth the trip at any time of the year and Merano itself is a beautiful mountain town/city with a number of historically significant and interesting sites  surrounding it as well. From Merano we drove south along the east side of Lake Garda, a very popular tourist location, to Sirmione, Italy on the south end of the lake. This interesting sliver of a peninsula with castle and village on it’s outer end draws millions of visitors every (normal) year. Luckily we enjoyed a rather laid back and quiet visit.  From Sirmione we traveled once again to fabulous Verona and Venice.  We were very surprised at how busy both these places were but we did notice that most of the crowd seemed to be more “local-ish” in nature. Having driven through Croatia two times in past trips and missing Pula both times, we decided we had to make it happen this time. The ancient Roman amphitheatre in Pula is truly magnificent. It is one of the largest Roman Arenas in the world and it’s the only one with all four sides still intact. From the centre of the Arena you can almost sense the gladiators around you as they fight-off the lions. This amphitheatre is over 2000 years old and is still used for significant concerts today. In it’s prime it could accommodate 23,000 bloodthirsty spectators and today… about 12,500 music lovers. Rovinj, a small coastal (cone hill shaped) village a short distance north of Pula is well worth a shout-out.  A very unique town with an interesting water frontage and incredible sunsets. 

But… now the time has come to make a very difficult and trip altering decision. Traveling western Turkey was our original plan and we held onto that dream as long as we could. As we drove south and the days passed by, we hoped that things would start settling down in the Ukraine. This has not been the case and this horrific situation just seems to be escalating and getting worse. So, the idea of heading eastward presents a certain amount of anxiety and uneasiness that Margot especially does not feel comfortable with. Therefore, this northern part of Croatia will be the furthest “South-East” in Europe that we will travel and we’ll now concentrate our efforts on many unexplored locations within Italy, France and Spain as we make our way westward towards Portugal.  We do feel a little disappointed about missing out on Turkey, but in no way do we feel bad about this decision… we can only feel bad and upset for the millions of innocent people in the Ukrainian that are suffering beyond imagination at the hands of a madman and, our thoughts and prayers are with them.

Despite the stomach-turning global events that are dominating the news these days, we managed to have a great flight over to Europe thanks to KLM Airlines. We spent the first night at an airport hotel trying to recover from the jet-lag that seems to be progressively getting worse with our maturity. Early the next morning we caught a train to Dulmen, Germany to connect with the fantastic crew at Dumo Reismobile. As usual, we were treated like royalty and even given a choice between two great motorhomes. We chose the Citroen based “Glucks Mobile” (Lucky-One Mobile). This “GlucksMobile” will make for a very comfortable home for the next three months. Thank you to Dominik, Sanna and Eddy. We then loaded up the motorhome with some supplies from a local super store and spent the first night at the Dumo Dealership. The next morning Michael Thyssen (Dumo’s owner) and his wife Anne sat with us over coffee and we talked about trip possibilities. Turkey or Portugal? Michael called in an employee that moved to Germany a few years ago from Turkey to give us a picture of how things are right now and this was very helpful. Still undecided, Michael phoned his rental department and had them add on required additional motorhome insurance for us to drive in Turkey, just in case we decide to make this our destination (Typically this would be an added expense for us at the border crossing). Portugal however is still very much on the table and a strong possibility, we actually have a few more days before we have to make that final decision. Stay tuned!

When we drove off we didn’t get very far at all. We stopped at the wonderful Gasthaus (Pub) and Campground called “Peters” just outside of Ludinghausen. We planned to see a magnificent nearby Palace called “Schloss Nordkirchen” that was built based on the design of Versailles outside of Paris. We took a tour of the impressive Palace but it was  presented in German. Of course we met a wonderful couple that translated the entire tour  for us. After the tour, we enjoyed getting to know them a bit better over a cold beer. Speaking of beer, we had the greatest time at Peters Gasthaus where we became very friendly with the Pub patron Hendrick, and a large number of his other guests too. The beer was good but the food was fantastic. We actually stayed at Peters for two nights and have plans to see Hendrick again on our return in June. Another castle nearby is worth a big mention. It’s one of the smallest castles we’ve ever seen but in my opinion it’s one of the best. There is something very unique about it and I have often thought about it ever since we first visited it in 2014.  Die Burg Vischering is a small historical gem that somehow transports me back through time to Medieval days.   

Hitting the road we put on some quick, and expensive, miles (Diesel @ $3.34/litre) and we made it to Kassel. A very interesting town with a ton of beautiful history.  And Kristen… you would be impressed with the dozen or so rowing clubs all within a one kilometre stretch along the river bank. Every time we see rowing, we think of you.

Now, with a concerning eye on the mess that Putin has created, it’s time for us to commit to a general direction of travel, keeping in mind that Turkey will still be in the running for a few more days yet.  Will keep you posted.

Who ever knew that it would require this much stress, energy, patience, organization, determination and luck to just go traveling for a few months. Yes, Covid-19 has certainly changed our world and increased the complexity of “tripping-out” for fun. And, as if Covid alone was not enough to worry about, the recent and reckless behaviour of Mr. Putin is not making travel easier or less stressful, especially when considering travel in Eastern Europe. But… we’ve decided we’ve waited long enough for the world to fix itself and its now time to get on with doing the things that make us happiest, including motorhome travel in Europe. With no desire to live recklessly, putting ourselves or others at risk, we plan to follow all the latest national guidelines for safe and healthy travel. Hopefully things will improve daily and we’ll not have the feeling that we have wasted another precious year or two in frustration. We now consider the absolute risk of aging too quickly and waiting too long, greater than the risk of not loving and living our lives to the fullest possible extent. We really hope to generate a few more good memories on this trip that can be added to our list of adventures and retirement scrap book.

So… with fingers crossed and N95’s at the ready, we are once again flying off to Europe on the 7th of March and renting another motorhome from our good friends at Dumo Reismobile in Dulmen, Germany for three exciting months. Our plan is to “bee-line” for Turkey and complete a Western circle tour of this amazing country. If for some unfortunate reason we are unable to make the trip to Turkey, (touching wood as I say this) we will head towards Portugal through France, then Italy and possibly Croatia again. All considering, not a bad alternative to have as a back-up.

My plan is to once again rely on this blog to keep our friends and family informed as to our whereabouts and activities as we go along. Hopefully you’ll enjoy the new (limited) updates and possibly become inspired to visit some new places yourself.

Ukrainian Situation Update:

A few days have passed since I wrote the above introduction to our Europe 2022 trip and in that short period of time Vladimir Putin has done the unthinkable and has recklessly created an unnecessary international military crisis. Our first thoughts turn to the millions of innocent Ukraine citizens, young and old, that have had their lives turned completely upside-down overnight and now find themselves in extreme danger of not only loosing their homeland but their lives, and the lives of family members as well. What was Putin thinking and what is his ultimate goal? What impact will all this have on the rest of the world? Will the Russian people stand ideally by and let this bully behave like an out-of-control Czar? How, and how long, will this situation take to settle back down? Way more questions than answers. Hopefully some calmer and cooler political minds will surface soon.

As for our own upcoming travel plans… we are following government travel advisories on a daily bases and we’ll base our final decisions on the information provided by them. We have a great deal of time, effort and money invested in this trip including a few dreams as well. Hopefully things will return to a “new normal” and we can get on with our peaceful lives. As the British would say… “Keep Calm and Carry On”. However, not wanting to make light of the situation, I have planned a couple of alternative drives south towards Turkey staying further to the West. If any of these plans become questionable, we can quickly alter our course towards France, Portugal and Italy. Hopefully we’ll be able to stick to the original plan but understand that we’re not taking any of this situation lightly. Let’s keep the words of John Lennon in mind and… “Give Peace a Chance”.

From Sopot, we travelled a short distance northwest to another impressive Polish seaside resort called Leba where sand dunes and spectacular beaches abound. Leba is a popular summer holiday destination with lots of restaurants offering good seafood on the menu and sensible sized glasses of beer. Leba marked the farthest location north on our trip and from here we followed the Baltic coastline southwest to another interesting resort town called Miedzyzdroje just a short distance from the German border. Our next thought-provoking stop was Peenemunde, Germany to see the infamous WWII Army Research Centre museum. This is where the Nazi’s developed the A4 rocket, more commonly known as the “Vengeance Rocket II” or V2. At the time, this facility was considered the most technologically advanced centre in the world and besides the unimaginable destruction that resulted from it’s existence, it was here at this location that the entire space race frenzy began that allowed the Russian’s to launch Sputnik into space and NASA to ultimately put a man on the moon.
Moving along at a quick pace, we drove to a nice campground close to Potsdam. Potsdam is near Berlin and has more palaces per square kilometre than any other place that I know of. In one of these smaller summer palaces the “Big 3” Churchill, Truman, and Stalin met after the war to carve up Germany and thus setting the stage for a troublesome East West divide. Potsdam is also where you find the “Spy” bridge (Glienicker) made famous during the “Cold War” and also the headquarters of the KGB in East Germany. A short train/metro ride from Potsdam takes you to the main station in Berlin. This station is amazing with it’s many platforms and levels, truly a tourist destination in itself. We walked about Berlin and revisited many of our favourite places before moving on to Dresden. Dresden was a beautiful city that was completely flattened in WWII but once again, skilled craftsmen have reconstructed the ‘Old Town Centre’ to much of it’s original glory and this restoration work continues to this day.
Driving west we stopped at Nordhausen. This is where you find the Dora-Mittelbau concentration camp that provided a massive amount of manpower for a familiar project. This was the main production location of those “V2” rockets that were produced using the technology developed at Peenemunde. This surprisingly massive and complex tunnel system was excavated to accommodate the mass production of V2 rockets and it was built, and then operated, at the expense of countless slave labourers. Only a few guided tours a day provide an opportunity to visit a small section of the tunnels where you can still see rocket components littering the snakelike landscape. An impressive but sobering place to visit.
Onward to Hameln, Germany. This is the beautiful little town where the famous fairy tale “The Pied Piper” was written; the story was supposedly based on a true event?? Throughout the town centre you find dozens of small bronze “Rat” tiles set into the cobble stone streets. They all seem to be following a statue of the Piper himself along with a number of unsuspecting children. We were lucky enough to just happen upon Hameln and were once again reminded of our favourite traveling experience; that feeling of excitement with a surprise discovery of something fun and interesting.
Finally, we made our way into the Netherlands with a quick visit to Amsterdam and one last welcoming stop in beautiful Leiden to say a goodbye to our wonderful Dutch family there and also to give Bob and Katie a “High 5” as our two individual trips just happened to cross paths. Thank you again Hedy and Kees for taking such good care of us again and treating us all to that delightful boat ride through the old canals of Leiden.
Now, onward to Dümo Reismobile in Dulmen, Germany to return our cozy little motorhome thus completing our wide circle tour of Europe and bringing to an end our 2019 trip. A little sad to be ending this “gypsy-like” lifestyle again but filled with all kinds of excitement and anticipation to see our kids, grand kids, friends and family once again.

 

 

As expected, Venice was crowded with tourists but we still had fun exploring this fascinating city for the third time.  Not that far north of Venice you start entering the eastern Alps. We decided to drive through Austria and the Czech Republic to Poland as this was the most direct route.  This southeast part of Austria is absolutely beautiful and a motorcyclists dream. In fact, the big campground “Arneitz” that we stayed at just outside the lake resort of “Faaker See” is the epicentre of the largest Harley motorcycle rally in Europe that draws tens of thousands of riders each year… I now have a new entry on my “bucket list”.  Surprisingly we have had very few regrets about the many pathways that we have traveled but with hindsight in this case, I wish we’d spent a few more days exploring this beautiful alpine part of Austria. We zipped on into Vienna and stayed at the same campground as we did in 2014 that was only a short distance from the magnificent Schönbrunn Palace that we missed seeing the last time through. Vienna could be a shoppers delight but it’s also filled with so many other significant attractions, it really is a wonderful city to explore.

Onward to Poland and a significant change-up in experience, especially considering that our first stop was in Auschwitz 1 and 2. This is one of those rare places that must be experienced first hand to truly appreciate the emotion. No photograph(s) can express this place appropriately in true perspective and no amount of written words can adequately describe it.  A very sobering experience for everyone and probably the most significant memorial that we have ever seen. Also a very busy one with millions of visitors now visiting each year. Despite the somewhat “thought provoking” way that we entered Poland, our overall impressions of Poland have been extremely positive. The people have been wonderful, the sights and attractions are quite interesting and varied, the countryside is beautiful with many impressive infrastructure projects on the go as well.  But, one does get the overall impression of a quickly developing nation that is finding it’s own way and also becoming a very serious travel destination. If only they could “dial down” some of the aggressive drivers. We like the feel of Poland and think it’s a great country to visit with a real added bonus for those wanting to have a more authentic experience without the crushing and growing crowds we experienced in places like Barcelona, Rome, Pisa, Venice and Dubrovnik. Do however expect long lines at the amazing salt mines of Wieliczka south of Krakow. We were very surprised at how beautiful the Old Town centres of Krakow, Warsaw and Gdańsk are considering they were almost wiped off the map during WWII. The Old Towns were re-built as they originally were and the craftsman of the time did a great job. A short distance south east of Gdańsk is a castle worth mentioning. The huge brick “Malbork Castle” was a real treat, much larger and more interesting than we thought it was going to be with it’s medieval squeezing doors and tiny passageways, it was a fun place to explore, not to mention the colourful history that goes with it. We have stopped to catch our breath at the historically famous seaside resort of Sopot, just outside of the major shipping centre of Gdansk. This has been a prime resort for the rich and famous since 1824 and it still has that “turn of the century” feel to it. Like much of Poland, it’s in the process of revitalization, but from our front seats, we think this is a great place for a relaxing visit right now. And, what an amazing beach! Too many good restaurants and beach bars to count with reasonable prices and matching service. By the way, “Camping Park45” next to the beach has earned two thumbs up from us.  We now set out on the last leg of this journey with exciting thoughts of soon seeing our five wonderful grandchildren… and their mom’s and dad’s too.

Croatia has been such a pleasant experience for us. Its rugged and stunningly beautiful coastline with a thousand plus islands and thousands of years of history is just the beginning. Clean beautiful beaches, crystal blue water, friendly locals, good service and good prices help too.  Did I mention that this Croatian coast is also a charter sailors delight with countless village ports and sheltered bays to anchor in and explore. We’ve enjoyed a huge selection of quality campgrounds to choose from including the new 5 star campground we’re presently in. I must say however, it can get a little breezy around here at times, especially north of Zadar. This is due to the mountain range that runs sharply into the sea. So Sundays drive along that narrow winding highway with the wind blowing hard was very stimulating and interesting. For some reason I was having more difficulty navigating that twisty road and slicing through those sharp wind blasts than the 40 or so Ferraries that we passed… going the opposite direction of course. That strong wind did not let up all day or all night and at times, like at three o’clock in the morning, Margot was convinced that the gusting wind was going to topple our motorhome over.  The wind, and Margot, are  much calmer today, so we celebrated and did laundry. We’ve decided that since we are just around the corner from Venice we’ll slip over for a short visit before striking out northward towards Poland. We’re hoping for much less wind and lots of warm sunshine as we advance into the final stage of our trip.

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.

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!