Brumablog

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.

Amazing beaches with powder-like sand all along Baltic Coast

Our well organized campground in Leba, Poland

Another windy but beautiful beach day in Leba

A wee sip before dinner…

Seaside pier at Miedzyzdroje, Poland

An A4 Rocket also known as the Vengeance II or, V2 Rocket

Peenemunde Army Research Centre Museum

Tree covered roads not far from Berlin

The Glienicker Bridge in Potsdam, also known as the “Spy Bridge”

KGB headquarters and prison not far from the Glienicker bridge

The “New Palace” in Potsdam

Sanssouci Summer Palace

Cecilienhof Palace was built to look like an old English manor.  Meeting location of the “Big 3” Churchill, Truman and Stalin

Gate Nauener Tor. One of the few remaining town wall gates into Potsdam

The Dutch sector in Potsdam

Hauptbahnhof Central Station, Berlin

A huge station with many levels and 16+ tracks

A constant buzz of trains coming and going

The moving Holocaust Memorial

Street artist painting with gobs of paint in his right hand

Berlin wall guard tower, a Cold War relic

“Golden Horseman” Friedrich “Augustus the Strong” pointing from Dresden towards his Kingdom of Poland

Reconstructed “New Market” square in Old Town Dresden

Reconstructed Zwinger Palace in Dresden

This impressive Palace is now a museum

The view from our camping spot over Old Town Dresden and the Elbe river

Driving West of Dresden

Beautiful countryside

Missing my motorcycle and riding buddies right now

One entrance to the Dora concentration camp V2 rocket manufacturing tunnels

Small section of this massive underground facility

V2 rocket parts still litter the tunnel floors

Model of the tunnel network that cut right through the mountain

More beautiful countryside

Hameln… home of the “Pied Piper”

Still “Rats” in the streets

Such a nice town for such a sad story

Thankfully all the children are now safe

A delicious campground treat with Rum soaked raisins and Advocat liquor

Overlooking Dam Square in Amsterdam from the Royal Palace balcony

Amsterdam eye candy

Part of the beautiful Leiden canal

Afternoon on the canal

Dumo-Reisemobile in Dulmen- Hiddingsel, Germany

Dumo owners, and our friends, Anne & Michael Thyssen

The wonderful boutique “hotel van-Lendt” in Dulmen- Buldern

Hendrick and his Mom treat us like family. On this trip the hotel was actually closed for renovation, but they opened it just for us… two times!

This lovely hotel has been family operated for generations

Thank you Hendrick for the ride to the train station

Waiting for our 300 km/hr train ride to Frankfurt

Sad to be ending our trip but excited about returning home

A final wave goodbye to amazing Germany

And, a breathtaking welcome home

If, you can see and follow the little black line… you’ll see what a 15 week 13,000 km circle tour of Europe looks like

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.

St. Marks Square in Venice with light crowds

The Grand Canal

Entering the Alps in northern Italy

The lake at Faaker See, Austria

Arneitz Campground at Faaker See Village

Gerrrr!

Beautiful Austria

Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna

Looking down on the Palace from the Palace Gloriette

Looking up at the Gloriette from the Palace. A very small part of the original Palace grounds

Fantastic gardens!

Checking out the backyard… or is it the front?

This is the place to shop in Vienna… for someone!

Auschwitz I

Auschwitz II – Birkenau

Up to eight in a bed

Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory

Oskar Schindler’s Office

A salt chandelier beside support beams deep inside the Wieliczka Salt Mine near Krakow

A huge cavernous chapel with large salt rock carvings. Often used for special events

300 km’s of caverns and tunnels. Our tour visited about 1% of this 700 year old complex

Driving  near Krakow

The Beautifully rebuilt Centre of Krakow

The old Cloth Market in Krakow’s Market Square

Market Square in Krakow

Walkway up to the impressive Krakow Palace

A completed section of the new north-south motorway through central Poland

The tranquil garden at our campground just outside of Warsaw

Jewish monument to the “Heroes of the Ghetto” uprising.  Interestingly, in a wonderfully ironic way, the black stone used for this monument was originally chosen and paid for personally by Albert Speer for the purpose of carving a very special statue of Hitler.

Part of the re-built old town centre of Warsaw

Pork Knuckle, Pierogies and Beer… as good as it gets!

Northern Poland nearing the Baltic Sea

The fantastic Malbork Castle south of Gdańsk

The Monks dining hall

Small part of the Sopot beach walkway

The impressive and famous Sopot Pier with the 1827 Grand Hotel to the right

Amazing beaches

Fresh Baltic seafood!

The lively streets of old town Gdańsk. Also re-built after WWII.

A small remaining  part of the old town wall

Part of the old market and now a unique centre with a department store feel

Lunchtime in Gdańsk

Great seamanship skills on display in Old Town Gdańsk

Beautiful Poland

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.

Driving towards Split

Our campground in Split

Evening on the beach. Our motorhome is the centre one behind Margot

Multi tasking!

Large market outside the  “Silver Gate” of the east palace wall

The “Golden Gate” on the north side of the palace wall

Temples at the sacred access to the palace built by Diocletian… Emperor of Rome in 284

Neat spaces!

And, great streets to explore

Campground dinner

Photo from our campground beach

North of Split

So many beautiful ocean villages

Our campground just outside of Trogir

It’s hard to stay focused with this view in front of you

Walking to historic Trogir

Such a beautiful cactus

When this car was new it had nice doors… he should have purchased a “SMART” car

The Island town of Trogir. The Greeks first settled here in 380 BC

It has not changed a bit since

The Romans took it over from the Greeks, destroyed by the Saracens, controlled by kings of Hungary then later it fell under Venetian rule

You can almost feel the history

Another UNESCO World Heritage Site

Some people still live in the Old Town

But most of it is souvenir shops and restaurants

“The Basement” under the main palace was once used for storing wine, olive oil and food

Great big promenade along the waterfront with dozens of restaurants

Driving north

Part of the vast Paklenica National Park

Local produce

More fantastic villages

Islands everywhere

And boats everywhere

Our campground just north of Zadar

Pan fried squid!… she could have had a perfectly good burger

Some really beautiful sunsets

Peaceful drive until the wind picked up

Rough and wild landscape

Wonderful vistas

The new and windy 5 star campsite called Omisalj just outside of Rijeka

Another boring campground dinner…  Margot did share some of it with me

Laundry day!

A small sample of the amazing washroom facilities at this campground

With nice rooms to wash the baby

And your dog too

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

We started our trip with cool and wet weather but later it was the wind that completely took us by surprise. As we moved Southward the strong winds intensified dramatically and they lasted for about ten relentless days.  

Our first significant stop after leaving the Netherlands was Mons, Belgium. The Canadians liberated Mons and it was here that the first shots of WWI were fired, and the last. In fact, the last soldier to die in the Great War was a Canadian named George Lawrence Price who was unfortunately shot dead two minutes before the ceasefire. Next was a repeat visit to the Vimy Ridge Memorial site where the wind gusts and driving rain were so strong that you could lean into them at about 45 degrees. Strangely, this really nasty weather seems quite appropriate in this setting. We were sure this second visit would be a relatively brief one but then we discovered the addition of a new interpretation centre, a 2018 Centennial addition, along with an interesting new tunnel tour. Our planned short but respectful visit was completely altered but, it was time well spent as we had almost forgotten how beautiful and emotionally stirring this monument is. I think it’s a place that every Canadian would benefit from seeing up close, in fact, some have argued that this is the spot that Canada became a nation. From Vimy Ridge we drove a short distance South into the heart of the Somme Valley. Ferocious fighting took place all along the Somme Valley in WWI as both sides “dug-in” and trench warfare became the norm. Nearby is the town of Wellington where the Wellington Tunnels are located. Here, from a few very old cave quarries, a massive network of tunnels, 20 kilometres in length, were hastily excavated for the purpose of a surprise attack. Those tunnels ran up too, and in some places beyond “no-man’s-land” to within feet of the enemy’s front line trenches. Prior to a massive allied assault in April 1917 (The same one that involved the Canadian’s attack on Vimy Ridge) 24,000 soldiers were crammed inside the Wellington tunnels awaiting the inevitable order. When it came, over 4,000 lives a day were lost during this five week battle. In this brutal war, successful forward achievement was usually measured in meters but with the overwhelming manpower and element of surprise, the progress of this operation was measured in kilometres and therefore making a huge impact on the final outcome of the war. This region is all about WWI and a short distance away we stopped at the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland “Caribou” Monument to pay tribute to some other Eastern  Canadian heroes. The final WWI Monument that we visited was the massive Franco-British Memorial of Thiepval that is dedicated to 72,000 never recovered soldiers.  

Leaving the Somme Valley behind we drove to a very interesting and secluded place that was hidden deep in the Compiegne forest where in 1918 two trains met on parallel tracks, one German and the other French. This is the exact location where the armistice was drafted and signed bringing about an end to WWI. There is however an interesting twist to this story, years later when Hitler forced France to surrender and sign an armistice in WWII, he recreated the entire WWI scene in the same forest location in the same railroad car on the same tracks but this time he added much pomp and ceremony for the propaganda machine back home. After the French dignitaries signed the document, he ordered much of the historic site destroyed and had the railway car brought back to Berlin to put on display for all his loyal nationalists to admire. Just as Berlin was about to fall… somehow the original railway car accidentally caught fire. Some parts survived but the railcar now on display at the famous site is a sister car that’s been reconditioned exactly as the original.   

European military history is as fascinating as it is endless and no matter where you travel in Europe you’re never far from impressive structures and stories of inspiration, horror and surprise.

Before we arrived in Paris we made two interesting Château stops. One was a Middle Ages “Disney Land” looking  Castle called Château De Pierrefonds and it was an impressive site sitting high on the ridge overlooking the town and valley below. This Castle has been used in a number of movies over the years and it’s images have also graced the pages of many books and comics as well. The other impressive Chateau was Domaine De Chantilly and yes, this is the origin of Chantilly Lace. The last owner of this cozy little country home was the Duke of Aumale; who would have been King of France if his father King Louis-Philippe had not been overthrown during the French Revolution. The Duke himself was one of the greatest collectors of his time and spent a fortune purchasing paintings, statues, books and many other rare items. His collection at Chantilly is second only in France to the Louvre in Paris. Lucky for the rest of us, when he died without heirs, he bequeathed his entire estate to all the people of France for them to enjoy in the wonderful setting of his home/museum.  He also loved horses and he had almost 300 of them. To properly accommodate his four legged friends he built a “Grand Stable”. This palace-like stable is considered the finest in all of Europe and quite possibly the world. We watched an impressive demonstration here from the large centre domed ring. As you would expect, the surrounding race track, parks and other facilities are just as impressive.       

Our first day in Paris was spent grocery shopping and washing clothes. This relaxing down day was just what we needed because the next day we walked 16 kilometres through the centre of  Paris past many of our favourite sites. We had no real desire to visit inside the famous sites again, it was just nice to stroll past them in an unhurried and relaxing way and just experience the Paris atmosphere… including the aftermath vibe and “Yellow Jacket” damage on the Champs-Élysées.

We’re now heading towards Southern Spain with a few interesting stops along the way that I’ll report on next.  Hope all is well with everyone at home

The Grand-Place of Mons

Rub the monkey’s head with your left hand for a week of good luck.

Beautiful Mons Church, Saint Waltrude Collegiate

The Golden Carriage, inside the church

Belfry of Mons

Vimy Ridge Memorial, approaching it from the back side

The Figure of Canada overlooking The Tomb

Grange Subway 1,230 metres long. One of 14 tunnelas at Vimy

Wellington tunnels and some New Zealand miners

Thousands of soldiers ran up “Exit 10” stairway and directly into hostile machine gun fire.

Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial

A small part of the battlefield with trenches and shell holes still visible

France-British Memorioal of Thiepval. 72,000 never recovered soldiers

Armistices of 1918 and 1940

Forest of Compiegne

The railway car

Chateau De Pierrefonds

View from the Chateau entrance. Can you find our motorhome?

The draw bridge

The Worthies room with the Nine Worthies above the two fireplaces on the end wall

The Village of Pierrefonds

The Pierrefonds 1%

Chateau Chantilly

Part of the Duke’s rare book collection

Art in the hallway 

Tapestry in the dining room

Rare art in the galleries

A nice cozy home

Chateau on the right and one half of the Grand Stable on the left

PARIS  Arch De Triomphe

Champs-Élysées and 25 police vans on the move with 6 officers per van ready for any “Yellow Jacket” action

Damage from the Yellow Jacket protesters

A snack near the Louvre

La Seine river

Such a beautiful city to walk

We landed in Frankfurt, Germany and after a sleepless night in the economy class of Air Lufthansa we boarded a German “ICE” train from inside the airport terminal and traveled north to Dulmen, close to where we picked up our motorhome. Onboard the smooth running ICE train I noticed my ears popping and it seemed to correlate with our apparent high speed, I said to Margot that we must be be doing at least 200 km/hr and just then the notice board posted a train speed of 291km/hr, needless to say the rail system throughout this part of Europe is nothing less than amazing; our anticipated 4 hour trip only took 2.

They know us now at the small family run hotel Van-Lendt in the village of Buldern, just outside of Dulmen, so despite the hotel being closed for renovation Herr  Hendrix insisted that we come and stay with them anyway. We did and we had a very nice visit, when finally heading off to bed at about 8:00 pm, we let him know that we would be down for breakfast around 8:00 am as we had lots of motorhome duties at Dumo Reismobile (RV Dealership) to attend to the next day. We closed the blackout blinds in our room and in the blink of an eye, the clock read 12:03 pm… 16 hours had passed!  What a shock, what a panic, what a way to start our trip. But, everyone was cool and very forgiving, Hendrik’s hotel  breakfast/lunch was delicious, the “pick-up” from Dumo was reset for 1:00pm, and that was followed by a nice reunion with Michael Tyson (owner of Dumo Reismobile) and the rest of our friends at Dumo. Later  we drove away in our 2018 Burstner Lyseo TD690 Motorhome but we didn’t drive far, we did some grocery shopping then stopped for the night at a Stellplatz in Dulmen. (Stellplatz: A designated overnight motorhome parking area with minimal services and matching prices. Usually located near town centres or attractions where the locals do hope you will spend some of your money).  The next day we shopped at a familiar mega sized camping store called Obelink just across the border in Winterswijk, Netherlands. We picked up a few camping supplies then stopped for the night at a close by campground to try and get ourselves organized before moving on. It usually takes us about a week of living in a motorhome before we really start feeling settled.  

The following day was Friday and we made a bee-line to Leiden, near The Hague, to reconnect with some very special people. Invited to stay with Hedy and Kees, we abandoned the RV out front and spent the next three nights as house guests in their beautiful home. A full day of impressive local tourist attractions was expertly planned by Kees for the Saturday and as if that was not enough, we got the opportunity to share all this time and experience with Jan & Marije, and Nynke & Joost as well.  Such a wonderful day. We really enjoyed seeing Anneke and we got a chance to visit her nice new home. Just before heading out, we squeezed in a very nice visit with Els and Aad as well. What a fun and action packed 3 days it was, hopefully we didn’t wear everyone out. Margot and I can’t tell you guys how much we enjoyed spending this time with all of you and we thank you sincerely for everything you did to entertain us, feed us, and make us feel at home. Hopefully it won’t be too long before we have an opportunity to repay your kindness.  

Monday afternoon (March 11th) and we’re on our way again. On our drive to Paris we’ll be checking out a few more WWI monuments and a few Château’s as well. I’ll try and post a second blog on this part of the journey ASAP so until then, hope everyone is well at home and know that we’ve comfortably settled into the gypsy mode again.

Thanks for the delivery Cam!

And finalley we’re off!

My bag was filled with electronics, and who do they check ???

The Rockies waving us goodbye

Our “ICE” bullet train from the Frankfurt airport

Our Burstner Lyseo T690G at the Stellplatz in Dulmen

We should have house cleaned first

My ALFA WiFi Booster

And… Antenna

A perfect Dutch road with just the right amount of traffic

The centre of Government

More of the Government buildings in such a beautiful setting

So nice to visit with Anneke and see her new home

A cold and windy day but a warm and friendly sendoff from Jan

A nice visit with Els and Aad

Thank you Hedy and Els for the beautiful “send-off” flowers!

After completing our three month motorhome trip to Florida in the spring of 2017, we briefly checked in at home before heading out again across Canada to celebrate our country’s 150th Birthday. We had a great drive Eastward visiting many major destinations before turning 180 degrees at Sydney, Nova Scotia and driving back West again. We returned via the US cutting through Maine, Vermont, New York, Michigan, Wisconsin and the vast Mid West before stopping in Portland Oregon for a visit with Kristen, Erik, and Everett. Considering we started this trip with a few days of family camping together, this was a very appropriate way to end our trip. We had a wonderful time driving across both of these vast and beautiful countries and we’re definitely planning on doing a similar motorhome drive again someday, if only for the opportunity to chow-down on more of those great big delicious PEI lobsters.

On our return home we got so busy that the travel blog was set on the back burner and ultimately forgotten about so I never did complete a posting for this RV trip. Then life got even busier… Cam and Lia introduced us to baby Peyton in December 2017 and Kristen and Erik delighted us all with babies June and Elliot in June 2018. Somehow an entire year just slipped by us in a flash.

We are now about to begin a another motorhome adventure in Europe from March 2019 until mid June. In order to keep our travel blogs consistent and in order, I’m now about to backtrack somewhat and fill in the Canada 150 RV trip void. I want to maintain a consistent flow to my blogs because I have actually located a wonderful book publisher called “BlookUp” that will capture personal Blogs and then print them into fantastic hard covered books. Our plan is to have a complete set of these books that mirror all of our past travel adventures and provide us with one more opportunity to enjoy the memories.

5 wonderful grandchildren in under 3 years… thanks Mom’s and Dad’s

Nice campground in Southern BC

The Wawa Goose!

Kakabeka Falls, Ontario

Terry Fox Memorial and Lookout. A true Canadian hero

Lake Superior

Beautiful sandy beach

Centre Block on Parliament Hill

The Chamber – Canadian House of Commons

Rideau Canal Locks in Ottawa

Rideau Canal

Quebec countryside

Downtown streets of Montreal

Montreal Corned Beef Sandwich, Poutine and a cold beer… The perfect lunch

Sandy beach along the St Lawrence River

Fairmount Le Chateau in Quebec City

Old Quebec

Confederation Bridge to PEI (12.9 km’s long)

Summerside, PEI

Who needs veggies or salad, This is what Margot’s food guide looks like

Guess who ate the bigger one?

Near “Ann of Green Gables” heritage farm in PEI

Fort Louisbourg Historic Site near Sydney Nova Scotia (Founding, 1713)

St Peter’s Canal

Halifax Town Clock

Parked on the back side of the Citadel

Halifax Harbour

Theodore Too

Beautiful Peggys Cove

The Bluenose II docked in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

Some Fall colours starting to pop out

Our campground in the Bay of Fundy

More Lobster!

“High and Dry” near Digby Nova Scotia

Getting pointers from an award winning “Town Caller” from Victoria BC

Fort Anne National Historic Site in Annapolis Royal, NS

“Long Pond” on Howard Dill’s farm in Windsor, NS is considered by many to be the birthplace of hockey. Played by staff and students from neighbouring King’s-Edgehill School that was established in 1788

Hopewell Rocks Park in the Bay of Fundy

50 foot tides, twice daily, produce the highest tides on our planet

“At the ready” since 1812

Bar Harbor Maine

Along Lake Ontario in New York State

Niagara Falls!

Impressive “Dignity Statue” overlooking the Missouri River Valley in Chamberlain South Dakota

Badlands National Park near Rapid City South Dakota

Mt Rushmore in the Black Hills National Forest

Deadwood, SD. Burial place of Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane and other notable figures of the Wild West

Stunning view from a “Bighorn Mountain” lookout in Wyoming

Missing my Harley Davidson Motorcycle right now

Yellowstone National Park

Bison are the largest land-dwelling mammals in North America

Old Faithful!

The unpredictable “Beehive” Geyser

Local traffic enforcement

Montana

Rolling along in our Mercedes ERA 70A Winnebago motorhome

Approaching Portland, Oregon

What a great trip!