Italy 71 - a reflection on two weeks holiday and The Doctor performs successful operation in Misano (ROSSI WON)

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Where have the last two weeks gone? Perhaps now is the right time to do a precis of the holiday so far. It has been a funny one. We have felt we haven’t reached our destination but then where is our destination. You could say it should be Croatia but we may not get here due to poor weather next week. The long range forecast gives thunder and more rain. You could see each place we do to means we have reached our destination. We have been on the road 14 days and have travelled over 2000 miles. We have stayed at a number of campsites ranging from large and crammed in to tiny ones where we have been the only motorhome. The weather has been largely poor for this time of year. Most years we go back with tans but this year it feels like we will go back with rust. We have had 3 days of rain whilst we travelled to the Czech Republic and one days rain whilst there. We have had one thunderstorm and the remaining days sunshine. It is probably fair to say it has been a mixed bag. We have found some places delightful, others thought provoking and some downright disappointing. But we always come back to the fact that with the motorhome we can do some wonderful things that if we were in a hotel we wouldn’t be able to do.

Our thoughts for today were to find a supermarket to replenish our ever dwindling stocks of food and to get the hell out of messy Mestre as it had become known. We missed the first thing the supermarket as we found ourselves driving in heavy traffic out of Mestre. We were grateful to get out of the rush and bustle of early morning traffic and on to the open road. We would find a supermarket on our way to our overnight stop.

Our plan a podere in the hills. We had read good reviews about the campsite. In the middle of the hillsides it was a lovely place run by a Dutch couple. It had a restaurant and 110 pitches and with walks galore. We could chill out after the hustle and bustle of the last few days. After driving for a couple of hours there wasn’t a supermarket in site and we found ourselves heading up into the hills with an empty fridge and not much of a chance to restock. The roads deteriorated as they do in rural Italy, the fields became prettier with sunflowers gone over and the crispy golden heads of the corn waiting to be harvested. The sun shone on us and the world was right – well apart from the empty cupboards and lack of food. We arrived at the Podere and were a bit disappointed. It was in the middle of nowhere as we expected and there were a handful of caravaners all Dutch parked up on what looked like only half a dozen uneven plots. There may have been motorhome plots somewhere but we couldn’t see them. We made the decision not to stay and try to find that elusive supermarket and park up at Camping Panorama in a village a little further away from Misano where we planned to go to MotoGP. We found the Familia supermarket, a cross between a small out of town Tesco express/Lidl and Aldi. There were no familiar brand names but they did sell hot and spicy roast chickens, hot roast potatoes and enough food to fill the cupboard and fridge with. Success at last.

The ride up to Panorama held out much promise with fine views over the countryside and the tiny Italian villages perched on the hills. Upon arriving we were directed to a plot dark and gloomy and under some trees. As there had been rain everything was wet and soggy underfoot. We walked up the site trying to find another plot. Found a good one, dry and pretty fine for the night only to be gazumped by a Dutch couple. Thwarted we decided we would move on and the thoughts were to report owner for his description of the site. There was no view to speak of and it certainly did not have a panorama of the sea as the brochures proclaimed.

And so on the road again. Final shot and this one had to work. Camping Mar Y Sierra, an ACSI site with restaurant and views. High up it did have views over the pretty fields to the Adriatic. We tried reception. It was after 5 and it should have been open but the doors were firmly closed and locked. We walked to the restaurant and the lady in there rang Marco who told us to park up as the receptionist had an emergency and would sort us out next morning. The site is on terraces with bungalows and some long term caravans. We parked up next to one dutch caravanner and had the site to ourselves. Once settled the rain set in. The washing got soaked again, the dryers were out of order. It rained all night and all of the next day. The sky was sodden as was my washing. It started in the morning at 7 and continued. We managed to get up to the restaurant and ordered veal with French fries. Hardly cordon bleu but it was reasonable followed by semi freddo with fragola and Birramissu , a variation of Tiramisu made with beer rather than coffee. Interesting selection of deserts and probably better than the main meal. A quiet night on our own. The only sounds a single barking dog in Mondolfo the nearby town, his bark echoed across the valley. Italy at its best , we felt at home and readied ourselves for a challenge. Getting to Camping Misano, putting up with another pack em in, pack em high type of campsite just to watch motorbike racing. I hope Rossi wins to make it all worthwhile .


Saturday - we started our run out to Misano Adriatico. Why would we go to Misano Adriatico. To those of you reading who following bike racing you wont need any clues. The journey was an interesting one , we saw white gangly cranes in the fields alongside the road, we followed mile upon mile of railway line and we saw fields ploughed but not as we know them at home. Great big claggy lumps rather than a fine tilthe. Our destination another awful campsite. Not our type of campsite but handy, well a 2 km walk to the Misano track. The only campsite locally so it was this one or nothing. First task find it. We had read that the campsite could only be reached certain ways as the railway bridges were very low. Too low for a motorhome. And we had been before so knew first hand that this was right. Sally SAt Nav is programmed to know Suzy's height and her width but we are a little cautious knowing she sometimes seems to get it wrong. Our worse fears came to fruition. A low bridge. 2.8 meters high and not awfully wide. As we are over 3 meters it didnt take a mathmatical genius to know that 3 metres wont go into 2.3 and we would never get under. How embarrasing to have to back up with Italian bikes flying past peeping their horns and cars honking as they went past us. Not our fault . Sally Sat Nav is a raving loony that cant get it right. We had to back track and put in other street names and eventually came onto the front at Misano Adriatico. A typical Italian seaside town. Miles and miles of pristine sand all owned by hotels so no public access unless you paid. Regimented lines of sun bathers and those fancy umberellas you see in a cocktail. Loads of shops full of tat and more restuarants and cafes than you could shake a stick at.

We had arrived . Oh dear - packed out. There wasnt an inch of space as more and more camper vans, large and small and tents were squeezed in to the site. We settled in smarting at the 42 euros a night fee for staying. It was cheaper and more cheerful down the road on the Aquarium car park at 10 euros and probably would be more quiet. We knew we wouldnt get much sleep with motor bikes coming in and out and happy campers sitting out in the sun with boxes full of beer ready for the nights revels.


We did walk up town and had a coffee in a cafe with a large screen showing qualifying and spent the evening wandering back and to. There wasnt much to see and it didnt take long to walk the entire resort. We even sat for a while until we got fed up waiting for the speedway festival to start .

The night was awful . That is the only way to describe it. Our Italian neighbours talked most of the night to each other. The young German lads sat up until 3 am drinking, clanging, singing and making as much noise as they could. Music started and only finished at 4 am. And there was much laughter going on until the early hours from another set of German neighbours . Multiply that by 1000 and you get the picture.

We woke up shattered having had very little shut eye. And so it was off to the circuit a mere 2 kms away. There was supposed to be a free shuttle bus and we walked in the direction of the bus stop but didnt see one. We headed out along the Adriatic highway, across several roundabouts and through a few fields in the general direction of the noise that was coming from Moto GP warm up. After 40 mins of pushing through crowds we had arrived . Well we had got to the circuit and prayed we would get tickets . Another long walk to the cassa where we parted with 90 euros each for tickets to sit on the grass of Prato. And after that we had to walk another Km until we reached Prato 1 our gate. Sat for a while in the hot morning sun eating a porchetta panini which was tasty. Found a patch of grass to sit on and watched Moto 3 race. It was too hot so we had to move and sit in the shade waiting for 12.20 the start of Moto 2. Back again to our green grassy bank and sat for the race. Off again afterwards to walk around trying to get out of the sun. Finally we found a good spot, out of the way. We could see the start and finish line in the distance and had an excellent view of the fast straight and the slower corner. At 2pm the race roared off. Our hero the doctor Valentino Rossi overtook everyone and was in the lead. Chased by Marquez he had promised he would win for the home crowd as this was his home race. And then Marquez must have fallen off. Without access to a big screen TV we had no idea what had happened but a cheer went up when he fell and Rossi was racing off from his nearest rival Lorenzo. He stayed a post code away from him extending his lead lap by lap. We fell into conversation with a young couple from CArdiff who had been to a wedding locally and felt they couldnt miss coming to watch the Doctor perform. And stilted conversation with a local . What lap? Not a clue - 3 maybe. No 2 or is it 5. The race had been so exciting no-one had been counting. And then the last lap. The crowds cheered, the yellow flags with 46 were lifted up in the air and the doctor did what the doctor said he as going to do . He won the race . What a day.


We walked back excited to the campsite . We had paid for a night and half a day and joined the queues of folks trying to get out of Misano. The motorway was chocked solid and we had to divert. Our plan back to the quiet campsite we had left a day and a half ago. We arrived and reception was closed so we went down to the same pitch we had used before. Complacency set in or perhaps it was tiredness. We backed into our plot and I didnt get out . Next thing oooooops bang . We had missed the tree but hit the post with the plot number on it. Suzy had a small scuff on her bumper and a tiny crack. Nothing that cant be repaired. A bit of cleaning should hide the scuff and a bit of sealant fill in the crack. I guess we have done well. We have done no damage to her for almost 3 years so it had to happen sometime and we didnt really care . The doctor had performed his successful operation in Misano and we were happy bunnies.

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Photos

View from Suzy
A typical Italian town

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Happy holidays
Great action shot

[JenGog]

Misano
Awfully hard to get them when they are riding those bikes at speed. We were on the straight and they go past like lightening . Good fun though