Week 1 news:      Guten tag - Buon Giorno

As you can see from the map, we have now crossed the Continent to Ancona on the Adriatic coast of Italy, and from there have caught the ferry across to Patras on the NW corner of the Peloponnese.

The long-planned Trip is at last underway. Dover's White Cliffs faded into the mist (see first photo) as we departed England on a gloomy late March morning, and from Calais, we  were soon speeding south-eastwards across Belgium.

The original plan had been to camp Monday night at Ghent, but having caught an earlier ferry and made good progress (in spite of the horrors of the Brussels Ring-road), we pressed on and reached the Rhine near Koblenz by early evening. 320 miles from Calais, we turned off the autobahn for the night, into the beautiful Mosel valley, where all the steep terraced hillsides were planted with vines. We camped just outside the river-side village of Brodenbach up in the hills in a wooded side-valley. Somewhat travel weary, we walked down into the village and spent the evening doing more than justice to sampling the local Mosel dry white Riesling wine. Such a glorious scene to greet us the following morning, after a sharp frost, with the misty morning sun just rising above the wooded hillside (2nd photo). The Mosel valley is certainly marked down for a future visit.

Our 2nd day journey took us a further 360 miles south past Heidelberg, Stuttgart and Munich, to camp Tuesday night in Bavaria just short of the Austrian border at a village called Bad Feilnbach. A superb campsite in a delightful Tyrolean setting, with mighty snow-covered mountains gracing the east and south horizons and Alpine chalet-style cottages dotted across the nearby meadows. Shortly after setting off on Wednesday morning, we crossed into Austria, our 6th country since leaving home. Beyond Innsbruck, we followed signs for Brenner Pass and Italy, and the mountainous landscape through which the autobahn was engineered became truly spectacular. Part-way over the Brenner, before starting the descent to the Italian frontier, we paused at a service station to photograph the viaducts carrying the motorway over the Alps (photo 3).

The Italian autostrada, mainly 2 lane, felt ultra-hazardous, caught between convoys of slow-moving heavy lorries and intolerant Italian motorists monopolising the outer lane at outrageous speeds. The need for constant concentration gave little opportunity to admire the impressive surroundings. Later that afternoon, some 900 miles from Calais, we reached the northern Italian town of Verona, to camp at the aptly named Campeggio Romeo e Guilietta. We had stayed here en route for Slovenia in 1974 and had favourable recollections of the campsite. 2004 reality however was as disappointing as the price was outrageous at €23.50 per night. Having a day in hand due to our sustained progress across the Continent, Thursday was declared a rest-day, and we caught the bus just outside the campsite into Verona for a nostalgic revisit. The central piazza is dominated by the enormous Roman amphitheatre, beautifully restored and used during the summer for open-air operatic performances. We indulged ourselves, sitting en terasse at one of the many bar-restaurants to enjoy Campari-sodas watching the world and his signora go by. Back by bus to the campsite, we  were exhausted by our 'rest-day' sight-seeing in Verona (including Juliet's balcony!!).

Friday, our 4th day of driving, brought us the final 250 miles of our 1,400 mile journey to Ancona on the Italian Adriatic coast, 7 countries and 3 languages since leaving home last weekend. George's (our camper) performance on the autoroutes/-bahns/-strade was superb, cruising comfortably at 80/90 mph, with always that sense of power in reserve. We have quickly re-established our daily living routines; space in a VW camper may be confined, but it is certainly more comfortable for long periods of travel than the 2-man ridge tent of yesteryear. For our final nights in Italy, we camped at a delightful blossom-filled campsite at the coastal village of Sirolo just outside Ancona; local people were so hospitable, and the air has been softly warm and spring-like. Sheila's German and my Italian have re-established a satisfying proficiency for the all too little time before we start using our Greek again tomorrow. 

The ferry from Ancona sailed at 7-00pm on Sunday evening for the 20 hour crossing of the Adriatic to Patras on the NW coast of the Peloponnese. We were booked to sleep in George for the crossing (a conveniently cheap option) but regrettably EEC Health & Safety parasites have caught up and put an end to this. So the ferry company offered us free cabins. But it will mean future crossings become unnecessarily more expensive.

We are now safely in Greece. This is now Easter week, the most important festival of the Orthodox Church calendar, and we are looking forward to sharing in the celebrations next weekend at Mycenae where we shall be camping for the week. More reports and photos to follow next week. In the meantime, we look forward to receiving your e-mails.

Sheila and Paul                                                                                        Published: Tuesday 6 April

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