It was with Fiona and Dave’s help that we toured Montenegro. Campsites as we know them are not plentiful here so it was great to have the advice. We called in to a site called Etno Selo this is to the North of Montenegro, as a stop off on the way to doing some rafting in the gorgeous clear blue waters that wind their way through the Montenegrin mountains. The site was well advertised with markers, well in advance along the road. When we arrived we couldn’t really make out what we were seeing. There weren’t any tents, campers. Caravans or Motor homes, there were a few scattered small huts, and an amazingly out of place Disneyland play park with a few rabbits, quails and a Hedgehog! But what astounded us was the amount of pre ... read more

Day 71-74 Trogir, Split, Dubrovnik ...and it had to happen somewhere!! We took a boat from our campsite to the small walled town of Trogir, situated on a peninsula North of Split. Boat seems the only (and cheap) way to travel because its so hot! (Think we mentioned the heat before!). Trogir was very pretty, well kept white stone walls narrow streets, incorporating a castle, cathedral and town square. Lots of souvenir shops and eateries, but the harbour was full of visiting cruiser sailing and motor yachts which is always good to watch. The following day we went further, a boat to Trogir and another larger passenger boat to Split. Arriving at Split was delightful as the beautiful facade of the Diocletion’s palace (300AD Roman/ Venetian origin) is right at the port. Within the walls of ... read more

Day 61-68 Sailing in Croatia When we first decided to embark on this big trip, being keen sailors, the intention was to sail the coast from the Balearic islands to Cyprus. Our expectations gradually diminished until it looked like a quick sail from Venice to the Greek islands though still a significant challenge on its own. When we bought the Bongo we realised there is so much to see and do on the land we’d go across country and mix it with some sailing. Booking the boat only three days before we set sail, on arriving at Kremik Marina, we were assigned our boat the 32 ft yacht ‘Escargot’, that’s it I thought it’s the slowest boat in the fleet -On the contrary it went like a dream. Instead of just hiring the boat we decided ... read more

We took the train from Pompei to Sorrento, a picturesque (but very touristy) town with lots of narrow streets on the cliff edge over looking the Amalfi coastline. Decided we would take the bus on the coast route to Amalfi. Wow! Some excitement the road was narrow in places and hanging off the side of the cliff...good job it was me who had the window seat and not Kim. The bus swerved, backed up, and bibbed at the approaching traffic, something the drivers must do every day, a journey of 1 1/2 hours of adrenalin and amazing scenery. Amalfi was lovely, quieter, with some interesting tunnelled walkways in the town. We couldn’t resist a swim in the sea before heading back on the bus. Amalfi contrasted sharply with Naples , to which we went, again ... read more

Day 51 Tivoli Gardens Villa d’Este En route from Rome to Pompei we had been advised to pop in on Tivoli. An interesting historic town in itself, but mainly we wanted to see the gardens of the Villa d’Este. The sat nav took us a very interesting route around the very narrow streets of Tivoli. It kept saying the villa was near, but we were unable to access it. We decided we had to park up and walk. However parking also proved difficult, thank goodness we have a small camper, we would never have been able to stay otherwise. The villa is right in the pedestrian area of the town (no wonder the sat nav had problems). It was on the site of emperor Hadrian’s villa, but is now an example of a 1550’s villa of ... read more