Trip in a nutshell
Trip Start
Apr 04, 2006
1
7
Trip End
Jul 03, 2006
Vancouver,
British Columbia,
Canada
Saturday, February 24, 2007
http://www.flickr.com/photos/clovesy/sets/
So, here we go...three months driving our '82 van (Rusty) around Europe in a nutshell...
We started in Yvonne's hometown of Landshut, Germany and drove to Munich to hang out with some friends. We then made off into Italy (via Austria, where we subjected poor Rusty to a snowy pass) and started on the west and headed east to Venice in search of some sun. After sauntering around the canals, we zigzagged our way south through hilltowns and rustic scenery over to Naples, where we played frogger with cars, trucks, scooters and buses (by the way, do NOT drive in Naples). We then surveyed the excavated city of Pompeii, navigated our way around the narrow and windy roads of the Amalfi coast (and spent a night in Rusty on a steep hill), drove south down the west coast and hopped a car ferry over to Sicily.
We touched down in Messina and drove south on the east coast of the island (Taormina, Syracuse) and then made our way to Mt. Etna where we hiked up to the main crater (4 hours up, 1.5 down). As we left town toward Palermo, Rusty had a bit of a mishap. Shortly after hitting the autostrade Rusty let out a big bang and then some clunking noises. We pulled over and shut it off, then walked back along the shoulder to the exit 3 kms back, with vehicles whizzing by us at 150 km/h. Long story (very long story) short, we found a phone, called ADAC (German autoclub) and they sent us a saviour in the form of a tow truck. We ended up spending a couple of extra nights on the island (one night in Catania) before we made our way to Palermo and to an overnight ferry trip back to Naples.
Rome was our next major stop where we met up with our friends Shaun and Nic and their little girl Livvy. After a few days of wandering the streets (and taking in some Cirque du Soleil) we moved on to the beautiful region of Tuscany. We rented bicycles one day and rode up and down the Tuscan hills (that is, until my chain broke and Yvonne blew a tire!). We ate THE best pizza - of the melt-in-your-mouth variety - in Lucca, climbed the steps of the leaning tower in Pisa, and stopped to smell the flowers in a small town market. Cinque Terre was next on the list where we walked along the cliffs from Riomaggiore to Monterosso. We capped off Italy and drove into France and toured the Cote d'Azur, took in the scenic Provence, and sunbathed in the buff on the limestone cliffs of les celanques near Cassis. In le camargue we spied rose flamingoes and (semi) wild horses; and in Les Saintes Maries de la Mer bands of gypsies lined the streets and took over the town. We slept alongside the Canal du Midi in Villeneuves les Beziers, wandered the streets of Avignon and strolled the length of the Pont du Gard. We hiked up to a Cathar castle high atop a cliff face and took Rusty for a drive through the Massif Central, stopping along the way to delve deep into the earth into the stalagmite ridden cave of Aven Armand. From there we wandered up north into the Alsace for a bit of French/German culture (mashed together), visiting towns like Colmar and Strasbourg and driving wine routes past family vineyards.
It was then back to our basecamp in Landshut - not before driving through Germany's Black Forest - to get some rest. Yvonne and I had both caught a cold and needed some TLC and to sleep in a REAL bed! After a few days of recuperating we left again and made east for Vienna, one of our favourite spots of the trip. Our time was running short so this was our only stop in Austria. On our way to Prague we stopped in Ceske Budejovice, the home of the original Budweiser. Our time in Prague was spent admiring the beautiful buildings and bridges and also watching some World Cup 2006 in Staromestske Namesti on a big screen TV with the locals and crazed fans from around the globe. Before leaving the Czech Republic we made a pit stop in a spa town called Karlovy Vary and sipped natural spring water from a becher.
Back in Germany we visited Yvonne's childhood hometown of Schneeberg, in the former East Germany. She took me on a trip down memory lane and showed me where, as a wee lil' girl, she used to walk to school (up a big hill), carrying her big oversized backpack. In Berlin we soaked up the World Cup charged atmosphere and took in the usual sights, plus some side trips to a lake and a couple of suburbs. On our way back to Landshut we stopped at the Buchenwald concentration camp. Unfortunately we didn't time it right and got there close to closing time so we didn't get to fully experience it. What we did manage to do (well, me anyway) was leave Rusty's lights on and drain the battery. Luckily for us someone was there to help us give him the ol' push start, then we were on our way home.
After a few more days of rest at Yvonne's mom's, we booked a last-minute all-inclusive week at a Bulgarian resort on the Black Sea. They don't have the all-inclusive down quite as good as Mexico but dollar for dollar it was well worth it. Lounging in the hotel room watching TV, lying around the pool reading books, stuffing our faces silly. It was a nice relaxing vacation from our vacation. Then it was back to Landshut to say our goodbyes to Yvonne's family and pick up our gear and we were out and back on a plane to Vancouver.
We learned early on in Italy that we couldn't possibly stop at every single little town and that we were just moving around too fast. We slowed it down and travelled more deliberately, but we still felt after that we went too fast. It was a good learning experience - a trial-run of sorts for our up-coming trip. Stay tuned for updates in our next Travelogue starting May 2!!
