Germany to Italy to Croatia

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Friday 5th June

·Traffic delayed on M62 thought we weren’t going to make it , however arrived at 7 .15 - 15 mins before deadline- in queue next to a German women in as green cinquecento that appeared to have paid £296 to go and get a pot of daisies from an English garden centre. Got to cabin and turned out to have bunk beds when we worked out the second one was folded into the roof! - Went to bar played scrabble - band appeared to be OK - bar staff were really friendly and actually appeared to want to chat to customers ( and alter their scrabble tiles when they went to the toilet !!) - was asked by two German fellows why their cans of Guinness were rattling - how do you explain what a widget is and what it is for !!
Had a chat with Michelle the minx and lickable Lisa from lisas 40th birthday party (leeds girls)who were sailing over night day in Amsterdam and back on Saturday - apparently the captain had warned them about the three cells he had downstairs and where they would end up if they did behave themselves. Also met a lorry driver called Neil who seems to spend his life going backwards and forwards from Canterbury to Holland delivering paper - now who says insurance is boring !!. Sunk a couple of Hogardens bottle of red and shorts before retiring at 1pm to bunk beds - Steve decided the top bunk was going on the floor just in case he fell out.
Woke up at 7am to Ruth madoc telling us we could get up and give them another £20 fine English pounds for a bacon buttie and coffee - we decided to stay in bed till 8.30 and go straight out for 9am departure

Sat 6th June
Had an altercation with Dutch woman in next car in ferry line as 3 times she banged her door onto ours - Steve shouted at her through window to let her know he had seen her 3 times and she said yeah 4/5 whatever - how rude. Spent most of the day travelling in the rain with not much to say - eta at campsite around 5.45 and supermarket shut at 6pm - not open Sun so we had to get there if we were not to starve for the weekend. Came off the autobahn onto the B505 to Bamberg
What a memorable number this was going to be - we had half an hour to get to the supermarket so Steve put his foot down despite me warning him prior to this trip about speeding in foreign countries - it will be OK he said it’s a quiet round . After 5 miles and a couple of overtakes later we came off onto the main road into Bug when the Mercedes that had been following us decided to flash his police stop sign in the back window - here we go again not happy with a Gibraltar parking ticket, an Italian and Austrian speeding ticket he is now going to add a German one to his collection ( still no points on his UK licence) - The nice German plain clothes policeman proceeded to show Steve the video he had made of the little trip and explained how he had to do 225 kmh to catch up with him . Trying the excuse we have just driven from Amsterdam , I thought the speed on a B road was the same as the autobahn and we need to get to the supermarket just didn’t wash - and he had a gun! Steve went armed with a spoon and asked him for his ID just to make sure we weren’t being fleeced as it was just a possibility that he had just bought a gun, a flashing light and state of the art video recording equipment ! Steve thought better of asking him for a copy of the video for you tube as he didn’t think it was appropriate in view of the prescence of the gun. 140 euros later we went to find the campsite hungry and wondering how we were now going to eat before Monday . We had travelled 461 miles from Rotterdam and not managed to find a supermarket ( had we stopped on the numerous occasions I had suggested it we may now be richer and less hungry. The campsite was nice - got a spot at the side of the river - luckily the camp restaurant served till 9pm and had wine in the shop so thumbs up. We bought some bottles of pop and regressed into the 80s as they gave us tokens to return the bottles for a refund . The restaurant had in house entertainment in the shape of Queeny the 9 week old Scottish terrier who was really cute chasing footballs and chewing teddy bears. Watched part of Burn after Reading starring George Clooney ( my advice is if you haven’t watched it - don’t bother as it was shit. ) George didn’t even get his kit off.

Sunday 7th June
Woke up to rain and have just realised how useful having a camping toilet can be when you simply don’t want to get out of bed until it stops . No leaks though - woke up oh dear no breakfast never mind its nearly dinner - no supermarkets open Sunday and there is a distinct absence of corner shops so we went into Bamberg for a wander round so we can come back on bikes later. Stopped for a beer and prosecco at the first café we saw - and deciphered the menu to get a sandwich - cottage cheese and chicken is an interesting combination. Walked around a bit more of the town and thought in view of the sunshine and the amount of beer houses there were it would be prudent to take the car back and bring out the bikes - only 5 km from campsite. Rode back in down the canal nice easy ride parked them up near C & A and had a wander round - Sat down at the side of a fountain to realise we had just ordered drinks from an Irish Bar - so much for experiencing german culture . To top it off Steve ordered a Radler - didn’t realise till it arrived that meant shandy !!!! So we obviously had to have another drink so the waitress didn’t think he was a wussy. Played some cards outside a bar near the cathedral until about 7pm and then had a spot of tea before heading back before the rain started. After an afternoon of glorious sunshine the specks of rain started to fall. By the time we were about 1.5 km from the campsite it started thundering and lightning ( Lynsey I don’t know what you would have done!) and absolutely pouring with rain. By the time we got back we were drenched - OMG I have never been so wet in my entire life not even in the bath. I had to wring out my tracksuit bottoms and my trainers are still not dry 24 hours on . Managed to get some more wine from camp shop and some bread. We set up the electric fan heater in the tent and the washing line and created a Chinese laundry effect whilst we tried to watch Benjamin button - didn’t get into that tried family guy and then I fell asleep.

Monday 8th June
As we had done no decamping last night it was going to take longer than usual to pack away . Got up at 8am had beans on bread for breakfast - best we could do !!!and finally packed away and set off around 11.05. Steve has been instructed to observe all speeding controls and use cruise control to prevent any further incidents. Maybe we should learn from our other mistakes and find a supermarket en route rather than wait until we get the middle of nowhere where there isn’t one - we will be OK thinks Steve as we decide not to stop again. Arrive at Campitello di Fasso Italian Dolomites at around 5.10pm - lets hope they don’t shut at 5pm. Went up and down the town 5 times before we found the campsite well hidden of a beaten track. Found the local COOP and the man behind the veg counter introduced himself by saying Manchester United and chuckling to himself when he said God Save the Queen - the mistake he made was asking us if we may need any help choosing red wine ! - he certainly doesn’t know the fennas like everyone else does !! That is the least likely area of the supermarket where we need help. Found campsite and pitched up tent - Steve also wants to try the new extension that turns a normal tent into the millennium dome - there’s only 2 of us Steve ! -Just finished before it started spitting - everybody in . Warm clothes out tonight as it is a tad chilly in t’mountains. Sat in the ‘conservatory’ had tea and a bottle of red. No walk into town as still a few clouds ahead and not falling for that one again.

Tuesday 9th June
Woke up to a few clouds but at least its not raining - no point in going up in the cable car as wouldn’t be able to see anything so after breakfast we decided to go for a bike ride. Just down the river to the next two villages through the woods and back . It wont be hilly don’t worry said Steve ! We are in the middle of the dolomite mountains how can it not be hilly!! It was about a 50m climb out of the campsite to the main road ! - Good training for Manchester to Blackpool. A pleasant ride though the countryside but as we are in the middle of small villages there was nothing to do at the end but turn around and come back - the next scenic point was at the end of a a pass and that was a definite no go ( climb was 600m from current spot) there are no hills that big on the way to Blackpool so I don’t need that training. Came back through Canazei and as it started spitting we stopped at Bar Peter for a drink or two then made our way back to Campitello . Stopped at another bar and got chatting to the owner mainly due to the fact Steve had put 5 euros in a machine next door and it had eaten his money and she was good enough to say she would help us get it back when the shop opened at 4pm - we therefore felt obliged to stay and drink more till 4pm . Her husband came to join us and when chatting about where we were from it turned out he had lioved in London 15 years got married and had 2 children then run away to Campitello and this was their first day of opening . I reckon the fennas afternoon drinking had almost doubled their profits for the day. Went back to camp with our supplies and settled in as the rain came down quite heavily . We struggled to hear the DVD it was that loud. Steve best line was I’ll watch this for 10 more mins and if I havent got the plot by then Im not watching it any more ( It was the DVD series of the life of Henry the Eighth !!) He fell asleep anyway through too much red wine!.

Wednesday 10th June
Rained all night but stopped ready for us leaving however tent was very wet and had to be put away in 2 bin bags . Hopefully the weather will be better in Croatia! Cant be much worse. Away by 10.00 only 248 miles and 6 hours to the next stop. The journey was very scenic taking in the extreme landscapes of the dolomite mountains, lakes and waterfalls. Even say a herd of mountain goats with their goatherd taking them to pastures new. Called for petrol and Steve managed to discuss the situation of Hull and Sunderland with the Croatian cashier. Managed to dodge all Italian, Slovenian and Croatian policeman and arrived at the campsite at 5.00. We are at Camp Zablace in Baska on the island of Krk in Croatia - and the weather is very warm. Hopefully we will be coming back less white than we left UK. Our pitch is just off the sea front can see the sea from front of tent . We are in a commune of german people who are very friendly but keep talking to us as if we know what they are talking about. I managed to understand one gentleman when he was trying to tell me the electricity connection was kaputt . One of the other guys thought everything we brought out to assemble from little bags was magic and then came the fridge !! Its as big as the fridge in our kitchen! We told him it was just for beer so you can imagine how we have helped the image of Brits abroad. At one point I thought we had left the tent poles back in Italy which would not have been good! It makes a change to be able to sit out side the tent and watch the sun set rather than the puddles forming. Managed to have our first major row putting the tent up as it has been a long day and very hot and having an audience doesn’t help - although they did offer to help. Been to camp shop for some beers and Steve has made the mistake again of buying lager -pivo alkohol the 0.5% alchohol should have been a big clue !! Off out now to check out the scene in Baska.

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