Homeward bound - 23rd/24th August

We packed camp and were on the road for 8.25 am for a solid days driving. 12 hours and over 1,000 kilometers later we were flaked out the Aachen Ibis, on the German/Belgian border and made a dent in the cheap 1.5 litres of Italian vino russo.

Less than 300 kilometers to go for the final leg to Dunkerque, unfortunately this took 4 hours thanks to two bad tail backs and a closed motorway junction where the bikers European Tuffmap and the sat nav helped guide us round. In it's favour Belgium had the cheapest LPG of the trip at 47 cents a litre, when it ranged from 55 to 75 cents normally (currently 54p in the UK).

The delay in driving meant we caught the 2pm crossing, which got us home 20 minutes after the kennels shut. Arse! Still, we had plenty to do including harvest the garden.
It's great to be home.

Castello del Arco - 22nd August

When we were going to the supermarket yesterday we passed a fantastic looking castle which looked like it was sliding down the side of a very steep hill.

We drove into Arco again this morning to see if we could pay it a visit. The centre of Arco is pedestrianised around a beautiful square, and the path to the castle starts here.
It was a very long and steep climb and we were thankful that it wasn't as hot today as yesterday – only 34 degrees!


The signposts which direct you to the castle say that it is a 20 minute climb – they're not wrong. The views on the way up, and from the top, were extraordinarily gorgeous. The original castle was built in 512 AD and has had a checkered history. Chris will fill in more details about it later.

After a very hot descent, ice cream was definitely in order, followed by a picnic lunch and back to relax at camp.

Our pitch is fantastic being under a plum tree and a peach tree. There is nesting box on another tree next to the tent and we sat listening to the birds cheeping away while the children played in the pool.

We are starting for home tomorrow – up through Italy, Germany, across past Brussels and Antwerp to Dunkirk. If all goes well, we will be on the ferry home either Monday evening or Tuesday morning.

Alex was asking us all what we missed most about home. He and Chris decided it is Neo. Shannon said she hates not being connected to her friends; either on MSN or by phone. For me it is cooking – don't get me wrong, I love eating out and even basic camp cooking but it's not the same as being able to cook a lovely meal with all the equipment and ingredients you need to do it.

Lago di Garda - 21st August

We had a meal last night at the campsite restaurant as we didn't feel like going out in the car again. It was all very nice with freshly made pasta and pizza followed by an early night. We all slept well and decided to have breakfast, pack up camp and then spend some time up-loading the blog and swimming in the pool before setting off for Riva Del Garda. In no time at all we were on the road.

Traveling was hell again due to temperatures up to 40 degrees and crap aircon. We have decided that the motorway up the centre of Italy is far preferable to the one down the east coast as it travels through Umbria and Tuscany, with their lovely hill top towns and castles.

We arrived at Lake Garda about 3pm and tried several campsites on the lake but they were all fully booked.

We had passed a small site about 5km back along the road so we heady there. It turned out to be a good choice. The site is on a farm growing grapes, apples, peaches and various other fruit and veg. The area where the pitches are is at the back of the garden and fully serviced with electric, water and beautifully clean toilet and shower facilities. There is also a pool for camper use which is great for the children.

The tent was pitched and, after a visit to the supermarket, dinner of omelette, fresh bread and salad was served. We have invested in some special candles to keep the mosquitoes away – we'll see if it works!

The area looks like great biking territory, except for the amount of traffic.

Up Pompeii and Mozzy Mayhem - 20th August.

I hardy slept last night – who would have thought that the road past the Pompeii ruins would be the busiest in the world all through the night! It was unbearable hot and, for the first time ever, we slept with all but the main tent door open. I eventually got up about 5.30 to make myself a cup of tea and read my book. As I sat there I began to realise that I had been bitten again in the night. Mosquito bites were literally turning to large spots and blisters almost as I watched them. I am covered. I even have bites between my toes.

By 7.30 it was already obvious it was going to be a very hot day. We decided to wake the children and start our day in the ruins early. Chris went off to shop for provisions while we got ready. It was great to re-visit Pompeii now that I had learned more about it on my college course. The children were impressed with the extent of the city. The only down side was the number of building which are closed at present for conservation.

Our guide for the morning didn't give his name, but he was very friendly.

But apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh-water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us? Lego!

By one o'clock we were ready to leave, we had seen the main sights and it
was too hot to continue walking around. We decided to pack up camp and drive halfway to Lake Garda today, instead of tomorrow.

It was absolute hell traveling today – the temperature was 39 degrees and the car aircon is working even less than it was before. We picked a spot to stop and pulled off the motorway to check the sat nav for campsites nearby. By this time, tempe4rs were a bit short, we were qll hot, knackered and had headaches. We were not please when the nearest campsite appeared to be 30km away. Just as we were about to get back on the motorway I spotted a camping signpost. Within half an hour the tent was up and we were in the pool cooling off.


They must have big hens in Tuscany!

The Long, Long Day and the Long Arm of the Law - 19th August

We were up early as we needed to be at the ferry port for 7.30. The ferry didn't arrive at the port until 9.00 but had unloaded one lot of passengers and loaded the next before 9.30. We were a little better prepared for the crap food and service this ferry line provides and had packed bread, cheese, ham, crisps, biscuits and water to see us through the long day. Alex and I had checked with ship's reception and were told we were not expected to arrive in Brindisi until 17.00 – we must have been sailing up hill as it was much quicker on the way!

We have been really chuffed that Alex has got caught up in a book and he spent a fair amount of time reading on the ferry. We apent some time playing cards and then Chris and I went up on deck to read for a while. I was really chuffed to see dolphins leaping about in the waves below us.

We had planned to drive to Pompeii straight from the port but debated whether we would make it due to the late arrival of the ferry. We decided to give it a shot. It was a four and a half hour drive and we were all really tired. I had just finished telling Chris that he would get arrested for not adjusting his headlights for European driving when we overtook a police car. Imagine our horror when it started to flash its 'blues'! We pulled o0ver to the hard shoulder and the police car drew level with us. I opened my window and two Italian policeman waved and said “it's OK, it's OK” and gestured for us to drive on! How bizarre!

We had planned to stay at Spartacus campsite – mainly because Chis thought it would be really funny to keep saying “I'm Spartacus, no I'm Spartacus” - how we raise our eyes at his sense of humour! Sadly the crap nav told us we had reached our destination with no Spartacus camp in site. Instead we pulled into Camping Pompeii, pitched tent and headed for the on-site pizzeria. Chris and I both chose a South Italy pizza; cherry tomatoes, Italian bacon and fresh basil – the best pizza I have ever eaten.

Last Day and Momentous Meze - 18th August

I had a really bad night last night. The aircon wasn't working properly and just kept flashing. At 2a.m. we gave in and opened the shutter – a bad move in mosquito country – but it was so hot it had to be done.

We had made no plans for today as we have to load the car at a leisurely pace (due to the heat) and buy bread for the journey tomorrow.

Our planned last meal here was to be a kebab followed by ice-cream from the ice-cream parlour we discovered earlier in the week. By the time it got to tea time, I really didn't fancy another kebab. Fortunately, Chris took little persuading and suggested a reasonably priced restaurant he had spotted earlier. The Odysseus looked inviting and had a lovely varied menu. Chris noticed that they had a meze on the menu but, due to our huge disappointment with the meze at George's restaurant we were a bit wary.

We asked the waitress what was included and she reeled off a load of nice sounding dishes so we decided to give it a go. It was gorgeous food, and so much of it. We had;

Greek salad
Tzatziki
Hummus
Bread
Roasted feta with onions and peppers
Calamari
Pork and sausages in a rich tomato sauce
Beef Stifado
Meatballs
Dolmades
Lamb chops
Pork chops
Swordfish steak (absolutely huge)
Halvas
Coffee and tea

We will leave Corfu with our view of their culinary delights reinstated.

Needless to say Chris and I were unable to partake of the ice cream but the children enjoyed theirs!

The owner of the property came in to try and sort out the aircon before bed. They are a really nice couple and even bought us some local marmalade to take home.

New Neighbors and Road Rage 'less' - 17th August

I was woken early this morning by loads of chatting going on outside. There were people moving their gear into the apartment downstairs from us. They arrived in a minibus, at least 7 of them, and have obviously come from Italy on one of the overnight ferries. We were a bit concerned that the rest of our stay he may be marred by lots of late night noise, and Chris was a bit p****d off because they had parked their van on the access road making it difficult to get by. We did wonder how they would all fit in downstairs but on our return from our early swim we saw our upstairs neighbors leaving in a taxi so presumed the party would be split over 2 apartments.

We had a few bits to get at the supermarket and bakers today and We wanted to drive into the mountains to Episkepi; a village recommended for a stroll through in our guide book. The road up to the village was tight and windy but the views were spectacular. We drove through Episkepi, not seeing anywhere to park or stroll so we drove on for a while, turned around and headed back to Acharavi. On our second run through Episkepi we were stopped by the knackered old truck in front of us trying to reverse. It seemed that a delivery van was coming in the opposite direction. These villages are very narrow indeed and clearly not built with cars in mind. We reversed further and the delivery truck pulled in. Two cars which had been following the truck then came towards us, quickly followed by two more. By this time a queue of traffic was building behind us. There was lots of gesturing from the cars coming towards us, not of the road rage variety but more in the form of helpful hints; move this way a bit, stop, back up etcetera. It was all very good natured, no stress and no bad manners.

Chris and Alex were so taken with the kebab yesterday that they chose to go back there for lunch, then back to chill and swim.

Our fears about our new neighbors were unfounded. The were perfectly quiet (and had moved their van).

We Have A Plan, but no Wi-fi - 16th August

Chris and I were up early this morning and were discussing where we are going to go on our way home. It has been really hard to decide but we have settled on Pompeii (which was always on the route), Lake Garda, Lac Laman (on the Swiss/French border) and then a sprint for home.

We headed to Roda, just down the coast, to see the Apollo Temple that we had seen signs to on a previous trip. We also wanted to visit the butchers (if it was open on a Sunday) and go to the wi-fi cafe to load the blog. The butchers was open so we bought tea for today and tomorrow and headed of to the temple. Yet again we were confounded by the lack of decent signs here and never did track the place down.

Chris and Alex had spotted a local purveyor of the well loved corfuit kebab so the plan was to upload the blog at the cafe and then retire to the kebab shop for lunch. No such luck; despite paying out for expensive drinks, we were unable to get onto the internet so the blog will have to wait.

Kebabs in Corfu are not those greasy, drunken, must have munchies that we all know and love (or hate) back home. The gyros (donner) is still on a big spit roast but is actually big chunks of pork all skewered together then grilled. Pork and chicken stifado is also available (chunks of meat freshly barbecued to order). Each kebab is wrapped in a round flat bread somewhat similar in texture to a naan. It is then filled with Tzatziki, paprika spiced mayo, tomato and chips – yes chips!

We headed of back to the apartment for an afternoon of relaxation and more swimming.

Mountainous Taverna Bill - 15th August

Today we had planned to go to Kassiopi which is just round the coast. They are the ruins of a Byzantine castle on the headland which we wanted to look at. The drive was beautiful, around the north-east tip of Corfu but when we reached Kassiopi, they were in the throws of their Ascension celebrations and it was impossible to get into the town. We decided instead to head up to the top of Mount Pandokrator as the views of the island are meant to be stunning. We took the road through the village of Spartilus. It was a strange trip as the roads up to, and through, Spartilus are thin, windy and badly kept but suddenly you arrive at a stretch of road funded by the EU which is wide enough for 2 cars with newly laid tarmac; followed by another really cruddy bit of road through several villages to the summit.


The approach to the mountain is rather spoiled by the array of radio masts on the summit but the views are certainly spectacular.


We headed back home for lunch and an afternoon of relaxing and swimming.


Chris has been saying that he wanted to eat at a restaurant we have passed every day which looks much less touristy than most of the places round here. We decided we would eat there this evening. When we arrived, Chris asked for the menu and the guy gave us this spiel about how it wasn't a tourist place and they only had one copy of the menu in English (translated as 'tourist prices'). It was a little more expensive for the main courses but we all chose what we wanted. I was really please to see that the Stifado was made with rabbit.

The guy then suggested he would choose us some small starter plates, which if we didn't like them, we wouldn't pay for them. of course they were delicious! The main courses arrived and we all cleared our plates. This is the first meal that Alex has polished of entirely, without a single complaint. In fact Chris pointed out that Alex's plate couldn't have been cleaner if he'd given it to Neo to lick – yuk.

By the time the starters and the bread had been added on to the bill, it was huge. We will be eating at the apartment for the rest of our stay!

Day Of Rest - 14th August

Another day of rest with a bit of reading, washing and swimming thrown in for good measure. The cheap local wine has proved to be very palatable, and what a bargain!

Corfu, Corfu; the big kebab - 13th August

Today we were up early for a trip into Corfu Town. On the way we stopped at a baker's which had been recommended by the booking agent. Shannon and I went in to get bread and baklava. The variety of gorgeous cakes to choose from was immense. It would have been easy to spend a fortune in there. As it was, a small loaf and 10 small baklava cost nearly 9 Euros.

The traffic was very busy and drivers here haven't yet discovered the proper use for their indicators. This coupled with the crappy map meant reaching our destination was pushing it a bit. Our luck was in and we found the New Fort fairly easily and even managed to find a parking spot nearby. Entrance to the fort was quite reasonable and the cellars and rooftops kept us occupied for a while.

It was incredibly hot though and we decided to wander in the old town where the streets were more shaded in search of a Greek style kebab for lunch. It has been years since Chris and I discovered these delicious kebabs in Aegina and we were really looking forward to them. We found a cafe and were not disappointed with the results (although the substitute of chips in them for green salad was a bit strange).

Shannon was suffering by this time with the heat so we headed back to the apartment via the supermarket. We bought a 5L plastic bottle of local wine for €7.5 – watch this space and we'll let you know if it's any good.

Shannon lay on her bed reading in the cool when we got back and the rest of us went for a swim. It was windy today and I only stayed in for a little while as the waves were big.