And so to Venice

The view this morning!

We got up at sunrise, got ourselves ready, and set off for Italy.
The aim was Venice, but we weren't sure if we would actually make it that far.  It was another 300 miles, and we were unsure if we wanted another day with that sort of mileage.  Not many really, but when it's your 4th day on the road, 300 miles seems like a jolly long drive.
The journey turned out to be superb.  We drove through the Austrian tyrol to the happy sounds of Karen Carpenter singing, I'm On Top Of The World (my favourite song).  We felt on top of the world, literally!
Fernepasse, and we were through the alps into Italy.  The long descent into Italy.
By lunchtime we were at the bottom of Lake Garda, near Verona.  We did our usual, and stopped in at McD's to use the facilities and wifi.
The Italian language was proving a bit more tricky for us.  Germans want to talk English, as do the Belgiums.  But the Italians have to be coaxed into using English (shame on us really for not being tri-lingual, like most of them).
So sorting out a campsite for the night wasn't quite so easy as previously.
Ruth had to enlist the support of someone in the queue in McD's to help her understand what the telephone message was when she rang the campsites.  And also, despite my vast knowledge of telecommunications generally, we couldn't work out what numbers to drop, and what numbers to use, dialling from our UK phones.
Kind man helped us!

Having sorted us out, then soon enough we were on our way to Camping Venezia, just outside of Venice.
Mozzies about after dusk, but otherwise, brilliant here.
The temperature was considerably higher than up in the mountains, especially at night.

Birthday in Bavaria and busking.

Stunning view in Southern Germany

It’s my birthday, everybody!

Ruth said I could do whatever I wanted to, today.

She even let me choose my own clothes, too!

We were awake at sunrise this morning after a great night’s sleep on Camping Illertissen, just S of Ulm, Germany.

When we woke, the outside temperature was -1 deg C.  Yep!  Minus one!  Inside we were warm and cosy under the duvet.  Ruth especially so, with her bobble hat, and woolly socks!

By the time I had gone up to the wash block, and back, Ruth had made me a cup of tea, decorated the van up with bunting, and hung up all my cards.

What could be better?  A cup of tea, a bag of M&Ms, and the morning sunshine streaming through the windows!  Life couldn't be better.

Birthday Boy in Bavaria

Ruth asked me what I wanted to do on my birthday, and I said that I'd really like to busk.

So we left our site at about 10 am, and went to Memmingen, which was the nearest town of any substance.

Memmingen

Ruth serenading the shoppers

We parked up and walked our baby buggy full of gear into town, and looked for the best pitch.  A kind of intersection of shopping lanes, cafes, and banks, etc, was where we busked.

The Euros soon began to drop in the tin like pennies from heaven.

The busking was great there.  On the scale of things, we were very well received, and only at the end were we told that one hour is what is permitted.  The shop lady who told us was very civil about it, and not at all grumpy.  We finished off with Over The Rainbow and began to pack away.

Just as we did so, a young lady with a couple of kids stopped to talk.  Her 3 year old, was being asked to practise her English!  At 3 years old!  Ruth struggles at 53, so to speak well at 3, was amazing.  Mind you, her mum was an English teacher in a secondary school here.

When she realised that it was my birthday, she insisted on buying us both an ice cream!  To make it even more special, her baby boy of 6 months was called Tim.

An instant bonding took place!

She walked with us to the ice cream bar and bought us each an ice cream.

Lady who bought us an ice cream.  Ruth with baby Tim.

Following all this extreme excitement, we headed back to our van, and set off for Austria for an overnight stop.

The drive was sensationally beautiful.

We stopped frequently to admire the views and simply absorb the beauty of our surroundings.

A couple of hours later we were in Imst, Austria, and set up on a campsite.  A bit pricier than the last one.  But then, it is always "location, location, location".  The setting is magnificent here.

What a marvellous birthday I've had, thanks to Ruth.

Brexit Day - 29 March 2019

Well, today is Brexit Day!

Well, it was supposed to have been,

And here we are, travelling through Europe on such a day as this.  

Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany today.

What things did I think about for this momentous day

Meaningful vote.

Another referendum.

The night spent in the hotel was great, after the disappointment of not finding a campsite.  100 Euros up my shirt, but when you need a place for the night, any stable will do.

We got in the lift to go for breakfast, only to find that it was a glass lift, on the outside of the building, with views across the street.  We didn’t even notice that, last night!

Near Yvoir, Germany.

We made the decision to drive as far as we could today.  The aim was to get to Ulm, in Bavaria, South Germany.

Ruth was allowed to drive, until she made a mistake coming out of a contraflow on a motorway in Luxembourg.  We ended up having to leave the motorway and drove through a little village.  

As I said the other day, “every sliver lining has a cloud”.  Despite the irritation of an enforced detour, we realised that diesel prices in Luxembourg were CHEAP, so I did a handbrake turn with the van after passing a petrol station, and pulled in for fuel.  The price was 1.08 Euros per Litre!  In real money that equates to about 90p per litre.  

Diesel price in Luxembourg today

We filled up!!

After that, I drove!

The rest of the way to a campsite just south of Ulm, in Bavaria, Germany.  We had a few comfort breaks, but none of them for very long.  A bit of traffic round Stuttgart, but other than that, it was plain sailing (or driving).

We had phoned ahead to the campsite to make sure they were open.  We didn’t want any of the problems of the previous night.

We pulled in to the campsite in Illertissen.  No one was about, except a bloke on a heavy roller machine, tamping down some gravel near a swimming pool.  Ruth went and had a chat to him.  He was the campsite owner.  A youngish guy, probably in his 40s, bronzed by the open air, with a lovely wife.  He told us he spoke English (phew), and took us to the reception for us to pay.  He worked out the bill,….  6 Euros per person, 2 for the van, 3 for electricity, etc, etc, and managed to come up with a total of 21 Euros for the night.  

We were well happy with that!

Then he said he would give us a 10% discount!  We weren’t quite sure why, but certainly weren’t going to complain.

We ended up with a bill for 18 Euros!  Call me stupid, BUT, if you take 10% off 21, you don’t get 18.  Do you?

Anyway, given 18 Euros in real money, you get to about 15 quid for the night!  Easy money!

The site was just the ticket for us.  Immaculate and warm wash blocks.  Next to a river.  Peaceful, calm, - and cheap!  

Life is good!

And tomorrow is my birthday!

Belgium! Here we come!

The day started early. Very early! In fact, I was my usual self that I have always been since childhood! Just excited to be going on holiday. So excited, that I don't sleep! I used to get so excited, that I would have an asthma attack!  
I was wide awake at 5 am. Never mind. The adrenaline will keep me going.
We were at Dover, and checked in for our ferry to Dunkirk, by 11.15 am.
Strangely not many people wanting to travel to Europe?! A few lorries, and a few cars, and that was it.  
We even had time to go into the Customs shed to have our van searched. They were looking for weapons. I "forgot" to tell them about my trusty Swiss Army Wife! It goes with me most of the time, so that I can get stones out of boys scouts' hooves whenever i need to.
Once on board, we were put right at the front, which means that we will be first off the boat. 
Lunch was good. The sailing was calm as a millpond. But the poor cashier on the boat was depressed about Brexit. She gets paid in GBP, and has to convert her pay into Euros. The rate just now is pants, so has effectively taken a wage cut. Poor girl.
On a brighter note, the peanut M&Ms that I bought on ship worked out at 63p per 100g. Every silver lining,... and all that.

First to drive off the ferry!  Whey hey!

It was comforting, once we were out of Dunkirk, to see that the French have the equivalent of 'Operation Stack' (or is Operation Brock, now?) in place on the approach roads to Dunkirk Ferry Port.  You know the drill.  One lane reserved for freight lorries.  The other for car traffic.  Police waiting to catch those that try to jump the queue.  (If you've never been in Kent, you won't know what I'm talking about).
We soon were in Belgium and heading towards Italy.  A long journey.  But we were determined.
The campsite we thought we would go to were renovating the wash blocks, so were unable to take us.  There was no option but to travel on until we found a campsite.
The problem was that we didn't.  After phoning about 30 sites, we eventually found two that said they could take us.  But something obviously got lost in translation, and it transpired that both were shut.  
The problem was that Belgium isn't open until 1 April.  That's a bit of a pain for us who need to find accommodation for a couple more nights in March!
In the end we had to go for the upmarket variety and book ourselves into a hotel for the night.  
Here is me, trying to work out how to turn the flippin' lights on in our room!

Tim trying to find out how to turn the lights on!

We didn't even know where we were at this point!  We were just exhausted after a day behind the wheel.
But looking on the map, we were just south of Namur.  Which is just below the "m" of Belgium on our map.

We were glad to have found a place to rest for the night.

European Preparations!

Never mind Brexit for a cotton-picking second, - we've got a holiday planned!  At least, kind of planned.  The ferry was booked yesterday.
Today was prepping the van for Europe.  Should I change the number plates with the blue EU logo with yellow stars, at the end of the plate?
Nah!
I did rummage around on our fridge and found a geriatric magnetic GB sign.  That's up on the van now.
I managed to rustle up a light bulb kit, and a few fuses.
First aid kit, is Ruth's department.
I drew a blank with the yellow vests.  Ruth started her own yellow vest display at Christmas when we did Christmas carols in Chatham High Street.  She wanted some of the Chatham Evangelical Church members togged up in yellow vests for some strange reason!  And now, I can't find the ones I most definitely had, once upon a time (before Christmas!).

Things for the van

So, in the picture, we have from L to R
1 Not cigarettes!  NO!  But those things in case the French breathalyse me.  You need 'em.
2 Warning triangle.
3 Snow chains (bought them second-hand on ebay fortunately). Legal requirement for the Alps.
4 Rope for a washing line, or for anything like that.
5 Electricity supply cable for hook-up at the campsites.
6 Portable potty fluid (NB, we only use it at night, and only for.....  Well, you guess).
7 Window black-out blinds for night-time.
8 Water bottle sterilised for our storage system.

Plus a whole lot more!
Gave the van a good vacuum clean inside.
The busking gear has gone in, in case we get the opportunity to serenade the Italians.
I've done one or two modifications to the inside of the van.  Just corrected a couple little things that have annoyed me, like putting some more hooks on the side of our Ikea storage/wardrobe racking system.  To stop things wobbling around.

And so, we are almost ready to go!

Italy, - here we come!

Tim and Ruth go to Italy

Our intended route from Dunkirk to Venice

TRuth - Get it?!

Question. What's in a name?
Answer.  A combination of both of our names!
The web address for this email is made up of Tim + Ruth = truth!  Get it?
Ok.
Well here we go, anyway.
It started weeks ago with Brexit.  Brexit was due to happen on 29 March.
We decided to go to Italy, leaving England on 28 March, thinking that everything would have been sorted out by then between UK and the EU.
How wrong this would prove to be!
So, last week I realised that I should be better prepared for our little holiday.  First, I would need to be prepared with one of those Green Card insurance documents that we used to have years ago before joining the EU.  Secondly, I figured that if the French got grumpy with the UK, we could be stopped for any and every reason under the sun.  So an International Driving Permit (IDP) could be, would be, a good idea to buy.
The Green Card was easy enough to get from the van insurers.
The IDP was simply going to the Post Office, paying 5.50 GBP and getting one.
Or so I thought.  I went to the main PO in Maidstone and enquired.  I found that I would need photo I/D, and my driving licence.  No problem.  It wasn't with me at the time, so 2 days later we both went to the main PO for an IDP.
We were greeted with a sign saying that the PO had run out of IDPs!  Catastrophe!  Quel Horreur!  Mange touts!  And other French phrases.
We spent nearly a whole morning driving round to various Post Offices, in search of International Driving Permits.
Eventually we found a PO that had some.  BUT, we didn't have a passport size photo with us.  We had our photo ID, and driving licences.  But NOT a passport size photo.  Kindly, the cashier took us to an office behind the counter, and took our photos, and then printed them out for us!  Wow!  But it cost us a fiver each for the privilege of not having our previously taken passport size photo.

My International Driving Permit

All we had to do now was book the ferry.  This was done this morning!  Just 2 days to go!!
A crossing from Dover to Dunkirk, in case the French authorities make life difficult for us Brits, or our return.  They are most likely to target Calais, rather than Dunkirk.  So we booked our ferry crossing this morning!  I know, I know.  You're all screaming at me "that's a bit late, isn't it?" but that's how we work.  Last minute dot com us!