Dee and Gee

Following my earlier rant “Is it real camping” we noticed how different the facilities are in campsites around Europe. One consistant change since the 70’s though, has been that they have all improved. We have showers that have timers on them, some are movement activated, most have sparkling tiles and shiny mirrors above clean white sinks. Some have suites with your own sink, toilet and shower to meet all your needs. Great ways of saving of hot water and money have been found and a great step forward from days of old because there is actually ‘hot’ water. But where’s the fun, where’s the excitement? Showers on campsites should be a mini adventure, they should be a journey into the unknown and a conversation point for the evenings chat with other “adventurers”. Dee returned from a ... read more

After five weeks on the road we are now experienced European travellers, we can set up camp in 30 mins and the team are like a well oiled machine. Very few words need to be spoken as we arrive on site and the Vaughanmobile is grounded and stabilised. All her vital connections are made, water tanks filled, waste outlets operational, mains power fed in and, of course, onboard bathroom facilities made ready. You’ll also not be surprised to know that we have finally mastered the art of navigation around our beloved partners in the social experiment that we call the European Union. We use a combination of maps, sat nav, road signs and gut instinct. So, for instance, when we approach an unexpected road sign that tells us our destination is first left off the roundabout, ... read more

It’s beauty overwhelms you as you drive around the lake, if someone had been asked to paint a picture from their imagination and make it as pretty as pretty could be, they may well have painted this scene. They may have thought to paint a small lake with blue water and a mountain that rises up behind with lush green sides and a high barren peak. A small castle perched on a cliff sets the scene. To give the picture depth they may have painted more peaks in the distance with a hint of white on the summits giving the viewer a glimpse of an airy alpine world beyond. Then if the artist sought the advice of a colleague about painting an island in the lake with a small fairy story church and spire surrounded by ... read more

As we all know when we are travelling or on holiday there are those quick meetings with others in a hotel or on a camp site and they are interesting because they are a “now you see me, now you don’t” sort of thing. Some people we wish we had more time to get to know others we were glad that one of us would be moving on soon! We were talking the other night of those we’ve met over the last few weeks, here are a few! German couple in the Riviera dei Fiori – they arrived late afternoon and had trouble maneuvering their caravan into place so we offered help, after a while we had made it worse and then gradually sorted it out and all was well. Throughout this event Mr German kept ... read more

Since the last ramblings of our travels we have had mixed fortunes with weather but have finally landed on our feet at a site just outside Venice on the Adriatic. The weather is perfect and we have achieved one ambition of the trip – to swim together in the sea with Horace. It is a perfect coast for swimming, shallow beaches that get deeper very gradually, as it is shallow it warms quickly in the sun and so clear that you can see your feet until you’re out of your depth (don’t want to tread on any nasties!) We travelled from our last stop in the Riviera dei Fiori just north of San Remo to a small town called Iseo on a lake of the same name. Placed between it’s more famous neighbours of lake Garda ... read more