Tetapkan semula carian
Italian Lakes and Islands 2024
  • Simon and Jackie Annals

Italian Lakes and Islands 2024

Simon & Jackie’s latest adventure to the Italian Lakes, Sardinia and somewhere else yet to be determined. Baca lagi
IkutiRingkasanRingkasanKalendarKalendarGambarGambarKongsiKongsiSenarai baldi
Terbaru dahulu
  • Permulaan perjalanan
    1 Jun 2024
    Simon and Jackie AnnalsItalian Lakes and Islands 2024Simon and Jackie Annals

    Day 1 - Just The Two Musketeers

    1 Jun 2024, England ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    I was awake before my 4.30am alarm, only to discover that Jackie was up, showered and nearly ready. We finished the final bit of packing without even a hint of a disagreement, then reversed our laden car out of the driveway at 5.50am to commence our Italian adventure.

    There should have been four of us and a dog on the 1st week of our trip, but our French friends, Andy, Tre and their dog, Loup have cancelled due to sickness. Teresa left the Stone Valley Festival feeling rough & believes that she has caught Covid, so instead of driving to Lake Lugano as planned, they drove home & to bed. It is a great shame, but on the upside we won’t now have a dog digging huge holes in our tent pitch!

    We arrived at the Le Shuttle port at 07.20am. It was yet again a stress free operation to check in and board. We also had the added bonus of purchasing 2 lites of Gordon’s Sicilian Lemon Gin at half price.

    We were spat out of the Channel Tunnel in Calais at 10.30am local time and set off towards our scheduled destination for that night. Whilst still in the Calais Shuttle Port, we had to negotiate a motorcycle gang, the Vikings England. We knew who they were because they had their name and logo emblazoned on the back of their motorcycle waistcoats. I would point out that they may be not quite as hard as they think they are, because we saw them prior to boarding the channel tunnel train and not one had been wearing his emblazoned waistcoat!!

    We picked up the toll road motorway A26 & E15 and drove for nearly 200 miles on the same road, mainly with other British tourists to Reims. After, we picked up the A4, E17 & E50 to Chalons-en- Champagne, where we 1st stopped for fuel & a pitiful amount of coffee for €2.10. It was here that we googled the nearest Lidl, which was just a few miles away.

    We drove to Lidl and purchased 21 litres of wine for less £50. We also bought 2 hand sanitizers, some madeleines and some tonics for our gin.

    We continued south seeing numerous persistent signs for the city of Nancy until we entered the Massif des Vosges, a series of forested mountains in Eastern France, close to the German border. We arrived at our remote hotel, Le Bouton d’Or around 6.30pm, which was half way up a mountain.

    I should declare now that I have had previous communication with the hotel, because I booked a double room on Booking.com with them for just £38. When the transaction went through I saw that I had been charged £50. I emailed Le Bouton d’Or & they replied (in French) that I had booked a Family Room. I replied that I hadn’t & had photographic evidence to that effect. I received a reply (in French again!!) saying thank you, would you like to book a table in their restaurant?

    We parked up and entered the reception area, where it was clear that no one spoke a word of English. I tried to explain about the room overcharge, but it was utter chaos without anyone apparently able to speak English. (Unforgivable in the 21st century!!)

    Eventually, a lady took our credit card and swiped it without explanation. We tried to converse with her, but she just ushered us up to our Double Room!! Jackie was irritated/angry/furious with their customer service and planned to make her feelings known.

    We had a couple of strong Sicilian Lemon Gin and tonics, then went down to dinner at 7.30pm. The restaurant was now nearly full and was buzzing with atmosphere. Within a few minutes, Jackie had done a full 180 degrees turn and was now fully praising the hotel/restaurant staff. Amazing what alcohol does!!

    Jackie ordered the Fondant de boeuf de 12 heures and I, the Jambonneau fumé braisé (Façon papa) together with a bottle of local white wine and a carafe of water. The food was nice, but not spectacular. Jackie’s beef was similar to a Beef bourguignon with a side dish of roast potatoes, but not so flavourful and my braised ham was a whole shoulder of pig still on the bone with a side dish of little dumplings. Both dinners were huge and despite our best efforts, we were unable to finish them.

    After dinner we retired to bed with a night cap of white wine.

    Song of the Day - Nancy Boy by Placebo.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsItalian Lakes and Islands 2024Simon and Jackie Annals

    Day 2 - Driving Through The Swiss Alps

    3 Jun 2024, Itali ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    After a good night sleep, we got ready and checked out of the hotel at 8.15am. There was a man in reception who presented us with our bill. It included €29 for breakfast, which we hadn’t had & €60 for a Double Room. I pointed out the error of his ways & he removed the breakfast payment & when I showed him a screenshot of the Double Room price when I booked on Booking.com, he amended the room price to €44. We left feeling very pleased with ourselves.

    We set the SatNav to take us to Camping Darna on the northern tip of Lake Lugano in Italy avoiding both tolls and motorways. It was showing as being 256 miles taking just under 8 hours.

    We very quickly entered Germany crossing the River Rhine at a dam then came across a McDonald’s, which Jackie had made her mind up we were having for breakfast. She had the traditional Egg McMuffin, whilst I had a BLT roll and a couple of coffees.

    Beside McDonald’s was a petrol station, with queues of RVs and coaches, meaning it must be cheap. We filled up at €1.87 a litre, which turned out to be about the most expensive you could pay for unleaded in Germany. The reason the station was busy we discovered was that the diesel was just €1.60 a litre.

    We continued our journey only to discover that my phone which was connected to Car Play had lost internet connection, which resulted in us losing Spotify, then the SatNav. We soon had no idea where we were going and we ended up returning to McDonald’s to use their internet and try and get 4G back on my phone. It didn’t work.

    We ended up trying to follow just a blue line on the screen and Jackie also had the compass up on my phone to make sure we were heading south (She had no idea how to read a compass!). Eventually after a few wrong turns and u-turns we arrived at Bad Säckingen where we crossed the Rhine River into Switzerland. To our great relief Switzerland provided us with 4G and we had music again.

    The northern part of Switzerland was pretty industrial and urban, but things changed when we got down to the scenic Lake Zug. We followed the road alongside Lake Zug, Lake Lauerzersee and Lake Urnersee, before entering the Swiss Alps. Our route took us to Andermatt, which was the start of the St Gotthard Pass, recognised as one of Switzerland’s most scenic roads. The road took us through a valley, then up a steep zigzag road to the top of St Gotthard Pass at 2,108 metres. The temperature ranged from 24 degrees at the bottom to just 9 degrees at the deep snow covered top.

    On the other side of St Gotthard Pass we found a a panoramic viewing area, cafe and toilets, which were definitely worth stopping at for a photo and a wee. As we continued, Jackie researched our intended destination, Camping Darna and discovered that the gates were closed at 7.00pm. This focused the mind to push on to get there in time. She also read on the weather app that around 7.00pm they were expecting thunderstorms. Perfect!

    We arrived at Camping Darna at 6.10pm. The very laid back receptionist told us that they had pitches available. She suggested we have a walk round and choose a pitch, before registration. The pitches looking out over Lake Lugano were chockablock, but much further back there were plenty of free pitches and quite frankly much nicer. We selected pitch 225, which was grassy and fairly private as it was next to an occupied static caravan with a huge awning.

    With dark clouds overhead we rushed to erect our tent, before the rain. Our Dutch neighbours with their very obedient dog, Noah, offered to help but we politely declined. After 20 minutes the tent was up, when the heaven’s absolutely opened with lightening flashing across the sky. We were cursing our sick note French friends, imagining them warm and dry in their French Chateau.

    We located to the lovely big awning of the neighbouring static caravan and watched puddles, then rivers form around our tent and throughout the campsite. We had two choices. cry or crack open the wine. Obviously we chose the latter. An hour later the rain hadn’t abated, so we waded to the on-site restaurant for dinner.

    We ordered a Sexy Pizza (honestly that was what it was called) to share (on Jackie’s instructions) and a beer each. The staff were lovely, the restaurant had a nice atmosphere and the Sexy Pizza with salami and peppers was delicious. I could have eaten more!

    We returned to our tent, managed to unload & pump up our airbeds, sleeping bags, pillows etc still in the rain, then sat under the awning with a nightcap of another litre of white wine. At 10pm we dashed to our tent and to bed.

    Song of the Day - Ain’t No Mountain High Enough by Diana Ross.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsItalian Lakes and Islands 2024Simon and Jackie Annals
    Feeding the pony3

    Day 3 - Moderate……..My Arse!

    3 Jun 2024, Itali ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    We both slept well as we usually do in our tent, despite it raining for most of the night. We surfaced around 8.00am to discover a lovely sunny morning in Camping Darna. We faffed around as most campers do, with several coffees and a trip to the shop for breakfast supplies. We bought 4 rolls, Gouda slices, salami and butter.

    More faffing was done throughout the morning whilst we got ourselves properly sorted out. Initial impressions of the campsite are fantastic. It has everything we want and need. The staff are so polite and friendly, as are the other campers who all say hello with a smile. The view of Lake Lugano from the shoreline of our campsite is spectacular.

    After breakfast, around midday, we ventured out of the campsite for a planned 5.1 mile walk. This was after embarrassingly demolishing the bushes as I tried to reverse back out of our parking spot.

    We parked up in Porlezza & started my AllTrails App which was going to direct us on a 5.1 mile hike described as ‘Moderate’ difficulty. We set off along the shore of Lake Lugano, then headed inland before heading into Porlezza and up the mountain beyond. It started off nice and gently, but soon got steeper and steeper on rough tracks through the forested mountain.

    Halfway up the mountain we took a scheduled detour to Began Waterfall, which was pretty spectacular in that it cascaded down to a sun drenched pool. We were the only 2 people at this beauty spot, which made it even more special.

    It was after the waterfall that the trail got steeper to the point that we were scrambling up the path often on all fours. The occasional F word started to be heard behind me but before long the F word and every other expletive imaginable had increased in frequency to constant.

    We were looking forward to the downhill section but when it came, as most mountaineering people will know, it was worse. In fact it wasn’t just worse, it was horrendous. The path down was exceptionally steep either covered with loose rocks or on a concrete track with marble like stones scattered across it. We slip slided our way cautiously down with our toes jammed back into our feet. We skidded many times, but miraculously neither of us actually fell over.

    When we finally reached flat ground it was a massive relief. We hobbled back to the lake shore and walked along until we found a lovely lakeside cafe with a table in the sun calling our name. We ordered 2 large beers that were clearly going to be expensive, but even I didn’t care what they cost. Two beautiful well earned beers arrived along with a bowl of nibbles, so we sat back and enjoyed the view.

    My AllTrails app told me that we had walked a distance of 6.07miles (not 5.1), with an elevation gain of 1,604 ft, a moving time of 3 hours 42 minutes, 2,373 calories burnt and a total time 3 hours 59 minutes.

    We ordered a 2nd beer each. Sod the expense!! We basked in the sun for at least an hour until we decided it was time to head back to camp for a shower. I suddenly got all nervous about how much our beers were going to cost so I asked Jackie to pay and not tell me how much it cost. As it turned out, they cost just €20, an absolute bargain for the view and ambience.

    We returned back to camp and were greeted by our Dutch neighbours, who fancied a chat. We discovered that this was their second visit to the campsite and they were staying 3 weeks. They also very helpfully gave us some recommendations of things to do and see and where to eat.

    After a shower and a couple of gin and tonics, we returned to the campsite restaurant for more Sexy pizza. I also ordered a tomato and garlic pizza, which was too tomatoey! We will stick to just the one pizza in future.

    By 10pm we were both dead to the world in our tent.

    Song of the Day - Slip Slidin’ Away by Paul Simon.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsItalian Lakes and Islands 2024Simon and Jackie Annals

    Day 4 - Giving The Fat Frog A Kicking

    4 Jun 2024, Itali ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    No, I’m not talking about you Andy.

    I woke at 6.00am, but Jackie slept through until 8.00am, when we both got up. I don’t know what came all over me, but I erected the washing line, hung out the damp jackets, went to the shop for breakfast croissants, then did the washing up. Camping brings out the domestic goddess in me.

    Jackie had decided we weren’t going to do anything today, but chill out. Apparently it wasn’t because she was still knackered from yesterday’s hike!

    The weather was a mixed bag, mainly sunshine, but clouds came over every time I took my camera out. We took a gentle stroll around our fantastic campsite & discovered it was much bigger than we thought. It also had a lot of empty pitches, where you could camp without having any neighbours. We are however still more than happy with our pitch. We also discovered that there was a large dog walking/toilet at the end of the campsite and even a dog shower (Loup would have loved it).

    After a couple of wines to steady her hand, Jackie set about cutting my hair with my electric clippers. I think she did a reasonable job. After my second shower of the day, we had lunch of salami, cheese and crisps with a couple of wines.

    The remainder of the afternoon was spent sunbathing, reading my book and we were entertained by another Dutch couple who had just arrived. We first saw them as the husband was pushing his wife around in a wheelchair, like Lou and Andy from Little Britain. For half an hour she was ordering him to push her back and forwards and round and round as she assessed which pitch to take. We were praying they wouldn’t take the pitch immediately in our eyeline.

    Of course they did. A short while later he reversed their caravan into the pitch we didn’t want them to take and hilariously the wife suddenly appeared running around like a spring chicken as she directed him back. After unhooking the caravan, the husband spent another 30 minutes plus, with his remote control manoeuvring their caravan to the exact position his wife, who was still standing, wanted it to be in. We had our tent erected in pretty much the same time. For the next 3 hours he erected his awning, filled the water tank and god knows what else. I never knew there was so much to do with a caravan.

    We have vowed that we will swim in Lake Lugano before we leave. With the sun beating down, I ventured down to the lake to make an assessment, but Sod’s Law it clouded over the moment I reached the lake, which made the thought of swimming very unappealing.

    At 5.25pm, after a 55 minute rain delay, England kicked off their T20 cricket match against Scotland, which I listened to on my iPad. I was happy as Larry until Jackie drew my attention to an email from a dentist who is due to make an assessment on repairing her wisdom tooth. Apparently it is complicated and they have listed the work just to make the assessment at over £700. Thieving bastards. This put a damper on our mood, as did the rain in Barbados after just 6.2 overs of cricket.

    At 7.30pm, we ventured out of camp for the mile walk to the Millennium Bug, a restaurant recommended by our Dutch neighbours. We followed the walking route on Apple Maps, but unfortunately I turned right about 50 yards too prematurely. It started to rain and we ended up in a farm where we confronted by a bewildered farmer sheltering in his barn who started shouting at us. We couldn’t understand a word he was saying, but his exaggerated gestures told us that we needed to go back the way we had come. Luckily, Jackie never mentioned it again - that we had gone the wrong way in the rain.

    The Millennium Bug was a traditional Italian restaurant in a woodland setting. I ordered the Gnocchi alla Chef and Jackie, the mixed grill, which turned out to be a meat fest with just a couple of roasted vegetables. I helped Jackie with her dinner, but still she couldn’t manage a whole pork chop. We shared a Tiramisu for dessert. It was very nice and we will be going back before we leave.

    As we were just getting ready to leave when thunder and lightning crashed overhead and there was a torrential rain storm. We waited under a shelter for at least 25 minutes before making a dash for home.

    Along the tarmac footpath, we discovered a strange phenomenon of more than 20 frogs hopping off the path as we approached. We found one particularly fat frog 🐸 that couldn’t be bothered to hop out of our way. Jackie gave it a kick, but it just slid along the path. I tried to film it on my phone, but made a total pig’s ear of it. In my defence, I was trying to keep my phone dry and every time Jackie kicked the frog she cast a shadow over it from the street light. It was too wet for a second take apparently!!

    Further down the path another frog hopped onto my adventure sandal, which gave me the shock of my life. I volleyed it back into the grass.

    When we arrived back at camp, we and the camp were both very soggy, but on a positive note the lights I had attached to the tent were working. We had 3 small wines under the neighbouring awning before bed.

    Song of the Day - Alive and Kicking by Simple Minds.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsItalian Lakes and Islands 2024Simon and Jackie Annals

    Day 5 - Lake Como

    5 Jun 2024, Itali ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Woke up to gorgeous sunshine around 8.00am and a heron observing proceedings from the top of a tree. I cracked on with my domestic duties of hanging up our damp clothes, getting the coffee on and running to the shop for a couple of plain croissants for breakfast. I showered and waited another hour for Jackie to return from the shower block - nearly ready for the day.

    It was not too long after 10.30pm, that we drove out of the campsite and headed to Menaggio with the intention of catching a ferry across Lake Como to Varenna, which is famous for it’s olive oil. The plan was then to get a 2nd ferry to Bellagio, an apparently beautiful little town on a peninsula on Lake Como, then get the ferry back to Menaggio.

    We drove past little Lake Piano, which was behind us in a flash, then we wound our way down to the ferry port in Varenna. It was heaving with tourists and despite our best efforts we could not find a single parking place. I was going to blame Jackie for taking so long to get ready but I tactically didn’t!

    Instead, we decided to drive down to the town of Como and back along the western shore of Lake Como, then try again to find a parking place and catch a ferry. We headed south to the town of Griante, where we espied another ferry terminal called Caddenabbia and a pretty much empty car park beside it. We paid €3 for 3 hours parking and bought 2 return ferry tickets to Bellagio for €18.

    Half an hour later we were cruising across Lake Como on our 20 minute ferry crossing. When we arrived in Bellagio it was busy with tourists, but also smacked of money. After disembarkation, we strolled up and down a flowery promenade, then headed past the exceptionally expensive looking restaurants and hotels to the very end of the peninsula. We espied a suitable unobtrusive bar for a beer & sat down at a nice table. Unfortunately, or as it turned out luckily, there was only one waiter and after 15 minutes we still hadn’t placed our order for an overpriced beer, so we abandoned ship.

    After meandering around the backstreets of Bellagio, we dropped back down to the port and an half an hour later we were on the ferry heading back to Caddenabbia. We returned to the car and headed south hoping to find somewhere less busy (and expensive!) for a beer. Literally minutes later we found that place, Bar Roma, in Tremezzo.

    Bar Roma had an outdoor seating area overlooking Lake Como with an extremely attractive vista. We ordered 2 large beers and the waitress talked us into ordering their homemade local pasta dish. We didn’t even know what it was other than it was some sort of buckwheat pasta, mushrooms and cheese. It came with a bowl of bite sized chunks of bread and the beers arrived with a huge bowl of crisps. It was a pleasant lunch hour.

    We drove on down south along the western shore of the lake to the town of Como. The road was narrow, often reduced to just enough room for one vehicle at a time. Fortunately the road wasn’t too busy, but I dread to think what it would be like in the height of summer. The road provided a lovely drive with lots of picturesque churches and villas overlooking the lake.

    We parked up near Como’s impressive Cathedral. We had a quick run around the heaving town and popped inside the Cathedral. Como was architecturally attractive in the tourist areas around the cathedral, but it did have quite a few homeless people and beggars. We didn’t stay too long.

    We then selected a non toll road and non motorway route back to Camping Darna. Just outside of Como, we re-entered Switzerland, then embarked on a hideously steep and windy road that was made worse by its narrowness. Jackie was a nervous wreck, to the point of having an anxiety attack, as we squeezed past oncoming traffic. By strange coincidence and right on cue, my Spotify playlist started playing a song by Hurt which had the lyrics “We’re all going to die. We’re all going to die”. This really helped!

    Eventually we reached the summit and entered back into Italy. We were amazed to discover that there was a golf course, Golf Club Lanza, no distance from the summit. We careered back down the mountain with clenched buttocks as we squeezed past more traffic to Lake Lugano. We continued on to the Carrefour Supermarket in Porlezza, where we purchased all the necessary ingredients for a Chilli con carne, salad & another 5 litres of white wine.

    Back at camp Jackie cooked up the Chilli con carne, with considerable assistance from me by regularly stirring the pot. I also wrote my blog and chatted to Marco, our Dutch neighbour. We had a pleasant evening with G&Ts followed by red and white wine. The chilli was as expected delicious. I was even allowed 4 chocolate biscuits for dessert, after Jackie had had a bite out of each.

    The weather today had been a sunny 27 & 28 degrees around Lake Como and we were treated to a lovely dry balmy evening back at the campsite for our alfresco dinner.

    Song of the Day - That (Such A Thing) by Hurt.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsItalian Lakes and Islands 2024Simon and Jackie Annals
    Turtle's Head

    Day 6 - A Turtle’s Head in Lake Lugano

    6 Jun 2024, Itali ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    We definitely sleep better in the fresh air. I had a good 8 hours and Jackie had more than 10. Yet again I was on domestic duties making the coffees etc in the glorious sunshine. After breakfast and showers we headed out of camp around 10.30am.

    Today’s plan was to have an easy walk to the L’Orrido Val Sanagra. It was a hike on the website of our fantastic campsite that had been also highly recommended by Marco, our Dutch neighbour.

    We drove the 6 miles to the starting point, a free car park in Codogna-Cardano. The website described it as a 3km walk. It wasn’t. We walked through the village then headed down into Val Senagra Park with a raging cascading river at the bottom. We crossed the river and hiked along the path that followed the river, the Fiume Senagra, along the steep bank. When we arrived at an overhanging rock face, a long, narrow suspended metal walkway allowed us to continue. In places, it was particularly low, requiring a person of normal height (5’8”+) to have to bend down or lean out over the railing.

    Jackie and I have been on some incredibly scenic walks around the world and without a doubt this walk was right up there with them. The dramatic scenery was just awe inspiring. It felt like we were in some lost or undiscovered world (apart from the half dozen dog walkers who came past the other way).

    After a 2km plus hike through the the valley, we arrived at the derelict Galli Furnace where bricks and roof tiles used to be made. After I had fallen down a grassy slope in search of the perfect photograph, we about turned. Half way back we took a diversion onto a cycle path that was a shortcut back to the car. It was pretty much the perfect walk. Hopefully my photos do it justice!!

    We drove back to Porlezza and stopped in a huge supermarket, where we purchased fruit, yoghurt, orange juice, balsamic vinegar, more tonic waters and bread rolls. We then parked up in town and walked to our favourite little cafe. We had a couple of beers each in the sun and agreed that its location and ambience was hard to beat.

    Whilst enjoying our afternoon refreshments, I ESPIED a turtle’s head (as evidenced with my prize winning wildlife photograph). To make sure I wasn’t going delirious, I googled Turtles in Lake Lugano & it confirmed there were turtles in the lake. I did also notice that in 2007, Lake Lugano was deemed to have the most polluted water. I didn’t want to know any more and I didn’t mention it to Jackie. I also read that the surface level of Lake Lugano is 271 metres above sea level.

    We returned to camp, donned our swimming gear and went for the swim in Lake Lugano that we had promised ourselves. The water was surprisingly warm and I reminded myself that I shouldn’t drink any, just as Jackie re-surfaced spitting water everywhere. After our swim, we set down our chairs on the shingle beach and supped glasses of white wine, whilst wallowing in the late afternoon sun.

    Around 6pm, we returned to our tent and cooked up the remainder of the Chilli con carne, which we had with salad and Jackie’s amazing homemade garlic bread. We had several G&Ts and just chilled around camp before another early night.

    Song of the Day - The Walk by The Cure.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsItalian Lakes and Islands 2024Simon and Jackie Annals

    Day 7 - A Headless Turtle in Lake Lugano

    7 Jun 2024, Itali ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Well after smugly declaring that we sleep better in our tent, we totally disproved that theory by both waking up at 3am and not properly getting back to sleep again. We eventually got up at 8.30am to discover it was another gloriously sunny morning.

    I made the coffees, whilst Jackie set about the domestic chores for a change! She washed our dirty laundry and made us a healthy breakfast of fruit and yoghurt. Once the washing had been hung out to dry, we headed to our spot on the beach.

    After settling down in our chairs, I contemplated what breed the black diving birds were that I have previously referred to as Shags. After googling it, I lost the will to live and I am still not much wiser, but my best guess is that they are Great Cormorants.

    We spent the remainder of the morning observing life on Lake Lugano through our binoculars. We also discussed our onward plans in Sardinia and I think Jackie has come round to the idea of camping for the majority of the time in Sardinia rather than being holed up in an expensive apartment.

    We had a liquid lunch of flasks of white wine on the beach, when the sound of silence was disturbed by a paraglider who circled overhead and managed to land on our beach and stop just before careering into us. He told us that he had taken off from the highest mountain, Monte di Tremezzo, between Lakes Lugano and Como.

    After lunch we had the misfortune to see a headless turtle float past the shoreline in front of us. Not a pretty sight.

    We sat and dozed on the beach in the sun until just after 6pm, when we packed up and got ready for a night out on the town.

    We walked back to the Millennium Bug restaurant, after stopping at the little church which on this occasion was locked. I had the Gnocchi allez Chef and Jackie had the Tagliatelle with porcini mushrooms. Both were simple dishes, but extremely tasty. Just like mama used to make!

    The walk home was dry and we had a quick nightcap before yet another early night.

    Song of the Day - Sound of Silence by Disturbed.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsItalian Lakes and Islands 2024Simon and Jackie Annals

    Day 8 - Total and Utter Port Chaos

    8 Jun 2024, Itali ⋅ 🌬 32 °C

    The alarm went off at 7am, but only I jumped out of bed and set about dismantling camp. 30 minutes later, Jackie reluctantly surfaced from the tent, just seconds before I was about to deflate her airbed with her on it or not. I was like a whirling dervish and by 8.30am, everything was packed up bar the tent.

    We were well ahead of schedule, so we stopped for breakfast. I bought a couple of croissants from the shop which we had with a couple of coffees. I then took a final photo of our lake view. After breakfast we showered, then collapsed and rolled up the tent and packed up the car

    After paying up at reception for our pitch rental, a bargain at €216 for 6 nights, we rolled out of camp. We stopped at the local Carrefour, where we purchased our evening meal, 4 ciabatta rolls, a large tub of Philadelphia cheese and 10 litres of white wine. We then set off on our non-toll road journey to the ferry port address on our tickets in Genoa.

    Our route took us south down the western shore of Lake Lugano, driving back into Switzerland and through the apparently posh lake side town of Lugano. We headed back towards Como and had to queue for 10 minutes to pass through the Border Control back in to Italy.

    The route took us south through the some of Italy’s northern industrial towns that were fairly run down or just plain derelict. We circumnavigated Milan and continued south on roads that were dead straight and bisected more boring towns. One of our biggest achievements was filling up with fuel for €1.76 a litre, which we didn’t find cheaper all day.

    We stopped for a comfort break at a service station, for a homemade ciabatta roll. We hunted high and low for the Philadelphia, which should have been in the fridge but it was nowhere to be found. Instead we had to make do with just Bovril, which Jackie managed to get absolutely everywhere, but in the roll. We had a mini domestic over this, which meant that what followed was a blissful hour of silence!

    The journey continued with the last hour climbing up and over mountains to Genoa. We were due to arrive at the port at 4.20pm, which seemed like perfect timing, as last check-in was at 5.00pm for the 7.00pm sailing. As we drove into Genoa, I started to get nervous because we encountered lots of roadworks, which diverted us from our scheduled route.

    Eventually we arrived at our destination according to the SatNav, but we hadn’t, in fact there wasn’t a harbour or boat in sight. We were in the middle of a one way street, surrounded by tall office like buildings. Strangely other foreign vehicles were also here apparently lost. We redirected the SatNav to the port on the map and tried again. After lots of traffic lights, lane swapping and jostling for position with the impatient Italian drivers and riders, we arrived at our new destination, only to be stopped at the port entrance by police officers who told us we were in the wrong location. Again we weren’t the only ones being turned away.

    Luckily, Jackie had the foresight to get a policewoman to put the correct address on my phone, whilst I was turning round. 6 minutes later we ended up at another port entrance, where there were lots vehicles, but no-one seemed to know where to go. We switched between several different queues and had our tickets and passports read at least 4 times.

    In the queues it was utter chaos. Some vehicles were being told to turn round, presumably because they were in the wrong place or didn’t have the correct documentation. At the passport control area we witnessed a security guard and passenger almost coming to blows. They were yelling and trying to hit each other, whilst another man was holding them apart.

    Eventually we had our tickets checked for a fifth time at a kiosk, where it was confirmed we were in the right place and we were told that we had to follow the arrows to dock 3. For some reason, we ushered onto the ferry almost immediately and given a ticket to confirm that we were parked near Door D3. We weren’t, we were ushered to park near Door A3. These 2 ferry staff then had an argument.

    As we were just starting getting our bags out of car (and look for the missing cheese), some bright spark allowed all the motorcycles to drive down and park in the narrow corridor beside our car. It was a miracle we didn’t get hit!

    We located our cabin on Level 8 and cracked open the white wine and necked a couple of glasses to repair our frayed nerves. At 6.45pm, now de-stressed, we walked up to the top deck and we waved goodbye to mainland Italy with a glass of wine. The only disappointment was I had lost all wi-fi connection on the ferry and wasn’t able to listen to the cricket.

    Once land was out of site, we returned to our cabin, had a roll (without cheese) and went to bed.

    Song of the Day - Sailing by Christopher Cross.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsItalian Lakes and Islands 2024Simon and Jackie Annals

    Day 9 - Sunny Sardinia?………Er…No

    10 Jun 2024, Itali ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    The alarm woke us up at 6.00am. After showering and packing our bags, we were out of our cabin by 7.30am. The ferry felt like it had docked, so we hunted for a window to admire a view of sunny Sardinia. To our shock it was a grey day with low cloud lying over the port. Not what we had ordered, but maybe the sun will burn away the cloud soon.

    By 8.30am, we were sitting in the poshest McDonald’s McCafe that I had ever visited. We ordered coffee and croissants, one marmalade and one Nutella, which we consumed whilst taking advantage of their WiFi. It was the a perfect start to the day.

    I had an itinerary and 1st stop was Pelosa Beach, just north of Stintino on a long peninsula on the north western corner of Sardinia. It is a famous beach, known for it’s sandy beach and turquoise waters. It also has a scenic turret on a small island off shore.

    I’m guessing half the vehicles on our ferry had the same idea and it was a procession of motorbikes, cars and campers, some of whom we recognised, travelling up and down the solitary road.

    It was a 20 mile drive and when we arrived we caught a glimpse of the beach and its turquoise sea, which was already chockablock with people and more sunbathers streaming towards it. There were parking attendants everywhere so we abandoned the car on what we think were the empty disabled bays, peered over a hedge and took a photo which from our angle didn’t look turquoise, just grey.

    We were relieved to leave and we soon stopped at Saline Beach, which was windswept and covered in seaweed. It didn’t even warrant a photo.

    We followed the coast down to Alghero, which was bustling with Italians enjoying a cloudy Sunday morning on the promenade. We then passed Alghero’s old town with its very picturesque ancient looking Cathedral and Sea Walls. The roads were too busy for us to stop for a photo opportunity.

    South of Alghero, the road followed the coast along what can only be described as a scenic drive, albeit often in low cloud, which we were not impressed about. We wouldn’t have had this miserable weather in the Greek Islands!!

    We continued through Bosa and down to S’Archittu, where the sun finally started to make an appearance. Luckily for the town name namers, S’Archittu has a big arch in the rock. It also had quite a nice looking beach.

    We continued to Putzu Idu, which has a road and a thin strip of beach between a lake and the sea. The beach was full of more ‘Eyetyes’. After just a quick leg stretch, we drove on to Is Arutus Beach, where incredibly we found a non metered parking space which were as rare as hen’s teeth. The beach was fairly busy, but seemed nice & one which we could definitely come back to.

    That ended the itinerary and we rolled into Spinnaker Campsite around 3.00pm. We found a satisfactory pitch all of which were under a canopy of pine trees and set up camp. 90 minutes later, we were all set up and we went in search of a cold beer at the campsite bar. It wasn’t particularly relaxing, because there had been some sort of celebration and a throng of Italian families, who still in the restaurant area being rather vocal.

    We returned to the restaurant now starving at 7.30pm and ordered 2 pizzas and a beer. I ordered a pizza with Gorgonzola, apple and crushed walnuts, whilst Jackie had the Sardinian pizza with sausage, tomato, chilli and local cheese. We still couldn’t eat them both.

    After a nightcap we retired to bed absolutely exhausted.

    Song of the Day - Ain’t No Sunshine by Bill Withers.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsItalian Lakes and Islands 2024Simon and Jackie Annals

    Day 10 - A Day of Three Halves!

    10 Jun 2024, Itali ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We both slept really well, however during the middle of the night we both independently were awoken by some creature rustling around outside our tent.

    It was gone 8.00am when we both surfaced from our tent. It was cloudy, so we had a couple of coffees each and shared a marmalade croissant. It was not too long after 10am, that we ventured down to our sandy beach which one would describe as having untamed natural beauty. It is about 5 kilometres long and to the south of our position there is the a derelict factory of some sort. Some would call it an eyesore, but I didn’t find it offensive.

    We set out our mat and chairs, then settled back to sunbathe. Unfortunately, a black cloud lingered over us and refused to disappear. We were the only sunbathers and we got more and more irritated by the bloody rubbish weather.

    By midday the weather hadn’t improved, so we walked the short distance to the little beachside town of Torre Grande. Grande it wasn’t. Along the promenade there were several Asian’s who had set up stalls and were trying to sell cheap crap. We checked out the restaurants, but none were appealing. We then encountered tons of teenagers on the beach and in the cafes, as if it was Spring Break. We thanked our lucky stars that they weren’t staying on our campsite.

    Feeling very disillusioned with our first impressions of Sardinia, we decided to return to the campsite. En-route back, we saw a little cafe, Riva Nord, and decided to have a drink. The cafe was very easy on the eye, so apart from beers, we ordered a local cheese platter that came with fruit and honey and also a portion of french fries. It was posh and gorgeous. It made life seem so much better again.

    After lunch we returned to our spot on the beach and basked in the sun all afternoon until 6pm. The beach was now busier with other campers and locals. We even both had our first swim of the year in the Mediterranean. We were now really happy, life was good, and we talked about staying at the campsite until the weekend.

    We returned to our tent and put the kettle on for a coffee. All of a sudden, we saw a procession of teenagers descend on our campsite. I estimated there to be about 50 girls and 30 boys. The Swiss hippie couple behind us didn’t seem to notice let alone care, but this was probably because they had been smoking the ‘Devil’s Lettuce’. For us, this was our very own private hell.

    Before we knew it, every single one of the girls walked past the front of our tent with dressing gowns and shower accessories to the one and only shower block. To say Jackie was not impressed is an understatement.

    The 50 girls were not happy to visit the shower block just once, but after dressing they all marched back down again to dry their hair and apply their makeup. It wasn’t until 8pm, when the shower block had emptied sufficiently to allow Jackie space for a shower.

    We returned to the restaurant that night for dinner only to find all the children and their guardians were in one corner of the restaurant. After the initial horror of this discovery, we have to admit that the children were extremely well behaved and very quiet. I ordered Ricotta Ravioli and Jackie had clam spaghetti, both of which were very tasty.

    Over dinner we made the momentous decision to move on in the morning as we suspected the kids would be here all week. Another deciding factor was that the weather forecast for tomorrow was cloudy, yes bloody cloudy! We plan to continue further south.

    We had a couple of wines and went to bed.

    Song of the Day - Private Hell by The Jam.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsItalian Lakes and Islands 2024Simon and Jackie Annals
    Well earnt beer
    Narrow streets in a mountain townSpiaggia di PortixedduBudderruCala DomesticaRocks

    Day 11 - In Search of that Sardinian Sun

    11 Jun 2024, Itali ⋅ 🌬 22 °C

    At 5.30am Jackie woke me to tell me it was raining. If that wasn’t bad enough she told me that I needed to get the table and chairs in. Running around in just my pants was probably not a pretty sight, even at that time in the morning. Needless to say I didn’t get back to sleep again. Instead I watched 3 episodes of Clarkson’s Farm, whilst the rain thudded down on our tent.

    It was around 9am, that the rain stopped and we got up and out of our tent. With damp pine needles sticking to everything we started to pack up camp and load the car, whilst being attacked by mosquitoes. It was exactly 11am, when we drove out of the camp. We noticed that an awful lot of other campers were also leaving today, even our Devil’s Lettuce smoking neighbours. I fear the throng of teenagers and maybe the weather had put people off, albeit we didn’t see any of the teenagers that morning and the sun had come out.

    Jackie paid our bill at reception, just €50 for a 2 night stay. I would say that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the campsite, apart from the kids and the weather, but camping under pine trees is not for us….too dark and dingy.

    We headed to the nearest town, Oristano, and sought out the McDonalds. We both had a Big Mac and Jackie also had French fries and a Coke Zero (just saying). With decent WiFi we chose a campsite in the most south westerly corner of Sardinia, which did not have a shady pine forest.

    Our ‘scenic route’ took us over a mountainous region before dropping down into the coastal town, with the fantastic name of Buggerru. What did the town name namers know?

    We continued on to Cala Domestica, that Lonely Planet described as a ‘A sensational sandy beach wedged into a natural inlet between craggy rocks, Cala Domestica is a heavenly spot’. I had extremely high expectations for this beach, but without the sun it looked a bit too grey. It was still busy with sightseers, probably thanks to Lonely Planet.

    We continued to a horrible scruffy little town called Carbonia, where we stopped at their Lidl Supermarket. We bought sausages, potatoes, a tin of peas (no baked beans), yoghurt, bread, mossie spray, a few other odds and sods as well as a couple of bottles of our new favourite beer.

    Forty minutes later, we arrived at Camping Tonnara on the Isola di Sant’Antioco. The campsite is on a tiered slope down to the sea and a small beach bar. We had a walk round and selected our pitch number 75, then returned to reception and paid for 3 nights.

    We erected our tent in the late afternoon sun, then stopped for a much needed beer break. We finished unloading the car and setting up camp, including tying the washing line to the car roof rack. What could possibly go wrong?

    We were much much happier and the weather forecast for the next three days was sun, sun and more sun, BUT also windy. We spent the remainder of the day showering, drinking and making the most of a decent 4G signal. We even had a bread roll with bovril and the missing Philadelphia, which was hidden in a saucepan!

    Song of the Day - Gotta Gettaway by Stiff Little Fingers.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsItalian Lakes and Islands 2024Simon and Jackie Annals
    22

    Day 12 - Finally, Our Utopia……..We Hope

    12 Jun 2024, Itali ⋅ 🌬 22 °C

    Our tent has a baggy rear end and that is not a euphemism. After settling down for the night, the back of the tent flapped violently as the wind rushed through from the door. It forced me to sleep back to front, but Jackie persevered.

    We slept well until around 6am, but didn’t get up for at least another couple of hours. It was a beautiful sunny morning, but we noticed that most of the campsite was packing up to leave. There was a mass exodus around us. We wondered if it was something that we said, until we saw on the weather app that it was forecast as windy from midday today and all day tomorrow.

    Oh my god, are we going to have another Dorset storm camping experience where our tent tried to fly away like a kite with us clinging on to it for dear life. On that occasion we ended up shoving everything sodden wet into the car and driving to the Bambridge’s where Angela kindly allowed us to dry out and made repairs to our ripped tent.

    After coffee and croissants, we ventured down to our campsite beach and along the rocks to Cala Sapone, a small cove of a sandy beach, which Jackie fell in love with immediately. It was our idea of a perfect beach, calm turquoise sea and sheltered from the wind. We even had a small cormorant swimming and diving in the shallow water oblivious to the paddlers. We prayed that the forecasted winds wouldn’t ruin everything.

    Before midday, Jackie returned to camp to get some liquid refreshment, her mat and my sunglasses. She returned with 1.5 litres of white wine and her mat, but no sunglasses. She informed me that the tent was already shaking from side to side and we discussed renting a little hut on the campsite if our tent flew away or disintegrated.

    After our lunch of wine and a few crisps, we both had a lovely siesta on the mat. The wind had got up slightly and Jackie started panicking that we would return to a shredded tent. Reluctantly I returned to camp with Jackie to find that our tent stood erect and proud. With relief, we treated ourselves to a swim in the very nice swimming pool and sunbathed until dry.

    After showering, we set about cooking dinner. Jackie was in charge and she had me as her sous chef, or more accurately ‘bitch’, running around from pillar to post. In the end I’m sure she was taking the piss and I wouldn’t have been surprised if she had asked me to get things like a tin of tartan paint or a left handed screwdriver.

    WE made a delicious dinner of sausages, mashed potatoes, peas, fried onions and a jus. I don’t how we managed to cook it all so perfectly on just the single gas hob and electric plate and serve it all up together still piping hot!!

    We had an unrestricted view of the sunset from our pitch, then retired to bed at just gone 9pm. It was less windy than the previous evening and I was able to sleep the right way round!

    Song of the Day - Something That I Said by The Ruts.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsItalian Lakes and Islands 2024Simon and Jackie Annals

    Day 13 - Almost Perfect, But Not Quite!

    13 Jun 2024, Itali ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    I woke up too early, read for a couple of hours, then fell asleep and woke up again at 8.30am.

    The first negative to our campsite pitch was that we now have a young Austrian couple next door to us with three screaming toddlers, one of which is still breastfeeding. There were lots of spare pitches, but they chose to be our neighbours. Amazingly they all sleep in the one small tent on top of their Mitsubishi 4x4. My mission is to sneak a photo of their setup.

    After a shower, we had a healthy breakfast of yoghurt with blueberries and I had the one remaining sausage from last night. We packed our bags for the beach including .75litre of white wine AND my sunglasses.

    We had aa nice morning on the beach (apart from the 3 adult women and 3 children with their poorly secured 3 umbrellas, who sat down in front of us hence ruining our view). Around 2pm we headed to lunch at a restaurant, Bar Tratorria A La Playa, that Jackie had seen and was keen to try just set back from the beach. It looked perfect when we walked in and it was quite busy. We sat down at a table, then the gammy eyed owner presented us with the menu of just 6 antipasti dishes. We explained we were from England (probably our first mistake) and he rattled through the menu in broken English. We chose the most expensive dish, €20, of meat and fish to share, plus 2 beers.

    A short while later old gammy eyes plonked down a basket of bread and what I can only describe as a plate of scraps. The plate consisted of a little prosciutto ham, salami and pecorino cheese which were ok, as well as 2 slivers of artichoke, 2 eighths of a hard boiled, 2 wilted lettuce leaves, a small triangle of a fried sandwich containing an unidentified seafood and the piste de resistance - 2 tiny triangles of stale pizza.

    It was shite, but every time I made any comment about it, Jackie accused me of moaning and ruining the ambiance. An Italian lady had the same dish, which seemed decidedly more appetising than ours. I mentioned it, but apparently I was moaning again.

    We grabbed the olive oil and balsamic vinegar for our bread and as we squeezed the balsamic vinegar it poured out of a crack in the side of the bottle creating a sticky mess on the table cloth. This had been our 2nd balsamic incident of the day, when earlier Jackie found that our food bag and hiding place for the car keys was dripping in balsamic vinegar. For those who know her won’t be surprised to learn that she hadn’t tightened the lid when she last used it before putting it in the bag!

    When we left the restaurant, I did let the owner know what I thought of his food. He didn’t seem concerned, but Jackie was annoyed and didn’t speak to me for several hours.

    We left the beach too early for my liking, collected the car and drove around to a beach I had seen up the road on Apple Maps. It didn’t compare to ours, in fact nothing compares to our beach. We continue on to Lidl in Saint’Antioco and bought loads of stuff including 2 steaks and litres and litres of white wine for Jackie.

    We returned to camp where we (Jackie) cooked up steak, chips and salad. It still amazes me how we do it!

    I listened to the England v Oman T20 cricket match, which was over in a flash. It was a still evening and we got bitten by a persistent mosquito. Come back wind all is forgiven. And then it was bed.

    Song of the Day - Nothing Compares 2 U by Sinead O’Connor.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsItalian Lakes and Islands 2024Simon and Jackie Annals
    111

    Day 14 - Taxing The Beach Bar

    14 Jun 2024, Itali ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    The weather is getting hotter and hotter and we are not complaining…..honestly.

    This morning we tried out Jackie’s new toaster device, which we had written off as a hopeless gimmick. Well how wrong could we have been. You set it gauze side down on top of the gas ring and place your bread on the top of the device. Within seconds we had nicely cooked toast. Lovely.

    The highlight of the morning was when Jackie managed to trip up on one of the guy ropes landing on the shingly ground on just her knees and palms with a thud. I accused her of being a clumsy cow as she staggered to her feet and she had the audacity to accuse me of being unsympathetic. Apparently it was also my fault, because I had moved a chair too close to the tent.

    We paid for 2 more nights at the campsite reception and headed back to our spot on the beach and settled down for the day. For an hour during the morning, families with kids arrived and disturbed the peace with their excitement, which irritated me, but eventually everything calmed down and it was a lovely day.

    We did nothing and just had our own wine, crisps and a banana. We remained on the beach until 5.30pm, when a 2nd wave of families started turning up, so we packed up and left. We decided we may have to make alternative beach arrangements this weekend.

    We went directly to our campsite beach bar and ordered 2 bottles of beer. They were small 33cl bottles of beer, but still cost us €4 each. Despite providing us with a nice bowl of nibbles and it being a fantastic location, we taxed them by stealing their very nice beer glasses. We ordered a 2nd large draft beer for the sensible price of €5 and nibbles. We left trying to avoid our bag clinking too much.

    After showers, Jackie knocked up a tasty tomato, pancetta and chilli pasta dish with salad. There was still enough for a second helping, but Jackie insisted we keep it for lunch tomorrow. I put a plate on top of the saucepan and left it on top of the camping table. I then washed up.

    After dinner, I entertained myself by saying ‘hello’ to every person who walked past our tent, even if they were passing by for the second or third time. I had a 100 percent success rate of responses. In fact, everyone generally says hello, except our Von Trapp neighbours, who look away when we pass by. They have probably heard me moaning when one of their kids starts crying or screaming!

    Song of the Day - Hello by Oasis.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsItalian Lakes and Islands 2024Simon and Jackie Annals
    WTF?

    Day 15 - The Mysterious Pasta Eater

    15 Jun 2024, Itali ⋅ 🌬 24 °C

    It was a windy night in our tent and it had nothing to do with Jackie’s pasta dinner from the previous evening.

    As we lay in bed listening to the wind with the tent flapping around heads. It suddenly started raining for about two minutes, which we later discovered left horrible dusty rain spots on every exposed surface. We checked the weather forecast for the next few days and saw that the winds were here to stay and on Tuesday it got decidedly blowy. We checked the east coast of Sardinia which is much less windier, but the temperatures are up in the 30s next week.

    Our bladders finally got the better of us and we dragged ourselves out of bed to survey the damage to our outside camping area from the wind. To our horror we realised that we had made a schoolboy error and gone to bed leaving the saucepan of pasta out on the table. To our amazement, the saucepan was now on the floor away from the table, the right way up and empty. The saucepan was empty with was no sign of our pasta lunch and the plate I had covered it with was now neatly stacked. I utilised my detective skills and deduced that it almost certainly wasn’t an animal and most likely to be someone, maybe sleepwalking (NOT us) had visited and eaten it.

    I got excited when I thought the Von Trapp’s were packing up to go. Sadly they weren’t. Every time either Jackie or I walk past she stares at us with pure hatred or just turns her head the other way. The mother has the face of a slapped arse with her youngest child permanently clamped to one of her withered nipples. Remind me, what nationality was Hitler? Maybe she is the great granddaughter or other close relative of Eva Braun. I hope it is not too obvious that I don’t like her!

    After more ‘blurry’ toast for breakfast, we had a rock walk around the coast in our little bay. The gusty winds were recording as a ‘Strong Breeze’ on the Beaufort Scale. They were too strong to justify sitting on the beach.

    We returned to camp and reluctantly decided that it was probably best to move on tomorrow. We researched campsites halfway up the east coast and selected a couple.

    At lunchtime, we had a couple of wines and some Laughing Cow cheeses. We then retired to our tent for a siesta and woke up all hot and sweaty around 5.30pm. The wind had dropped, but on the downside the flies were out in force.

    Jackie (and I) cooked up dinner of meatballs, pasta and salad. We supped our white wine between the football and the initially non-existent cricket on the radio, before going to back to bed.

    In bed, I contacted IT expert, JP, one of my NMA Magic Bus buddies, who gave me some advice on the best VPN to download, so I can watch the sport, not just listen to it. Hopefully I can sort it out.

    Song of the Day - It’s A Mystery by Toyah.

    2nd Song of the Day - She Hates Me by Puddle of Mudd.

    3rd Song of the Day - (I Never Loved) Eva Braun by The Boomtown Rats.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsItalian Lakes and Islands 2024Simon and Jackie Annals

    Day 16 - Tunnelling Up The East Coast

    16 Jun 2024, Itali ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    It was another windy night in the tent, but this time Jackie was source. The trouble with having a siesta is that we then struggled to get to sleep that evening. On a positive note, I was able to listen to the whole of the reduced overs England T20 match and most of the Scotland T20 match in the early hours.

    Despite this we (I) still got up early and started to pack everything away. It was our best performance to pack the car, but we still managed to drive out of the campsite before 10.30am. We had definitely made the right decision, because it was thick grey cloud with the odd light shower.

    Our first port of call was Lidl in Saint’Antioco, where we bought way too much food and booze. We had the indignity of being forced into buying a sturdy Lidl’s carrier bag, then I had to waddle out to the car park with the bulging Lidl’s carrier bag swaying between my legs. I looked like a trailer park trash weightlifter about to attempt a snatch!

    We then set the SatNav to Golden Beach in Cagliari. As we left Saint’Antioco, we passed some salt lakes that were resting place for migrating flamingos. There were numerous wading in the lakes, but not close enough for a decent selfie.

    Our route then took us through a mountainous wilderness, where we lost signal part way through a phone call to wish my father a “Happy Father’s Day’. We dropped down into Cagliari, that had quite a pleasant water front, but the road was so badly cobbled that it scared the life out of us that we would get a puncture. I couldn’t think of anything worse!To the east of Cagliari was Golden Beach, a very long thin strip of white sandy beach, which is apparently a favourite amongst the younger Sardinians. It was still busy despite it being a very grey day, but it wasn’t for us.

    The next stop on the itinerary was Camping Theleme, which had been recommended to us by a German camper, whilst we were packing up earlier that morning. We planned to just check out Camping Theleme, which was high up in the mountains on the outskirts of the small town of Ulassai. It was apparently lovely and cool in the evenings, which we considered a bonus with a heatwave on the way.

    We followed the coast along the southern end of the island, then headed north up the eastern coast. We were driving along the SS125, which clearly the Italian government had invested some serious money into. The road surface was good and it took us through dozens of tunnels, often over a mile long, and on bridges spanning deep valleys. It was a very pleasant drive and a relief to leave behind the idiot Italian drivers and riders around Cagliari, that didn’t take kindly to a law abiding citizen sticking to the speed limit, by hooting their horns and/or gesticulating as they made ridiculous overtakes past us.

    Halfway up the east coast, we turned off and headed up the mountain to the towns of Jerez and Ulassai. The towns looked more like we were in Nepal than on an Italian island. As we drove up we had already made our mind up that we wouldn’t be staying here, because the coast was just too far away to travel to the beach each day. After reaching the heady heights of Ulassai we turned round and went back down again.

    There were 2 campsites next to each other, we had earmarked as suitable for our needs just south of Tortolì. We selected the one that sounded the most relaxed and casual called Camping Village Cigno Bianco. Upon arrival we parked up and walked to reception, where we enquired about tent pitch availability. The middle aged receptionist had real attitude and told us we had to wait for an employee to show us what pitches were available and for how long.

    We waited 10 minutes until a little black lad on a golf buggy showed up. He drove us 300 metres to the other end of the site, pointed out a small triangle of ground and told us that it was the only pitch available. They had to be f**king kidding, the pitch was surrounded by trees and a dirt track. It would have have been like living on a mini-roundabout. We didn’t take it.

    Feeling slightly despondent and worried we drove next door to Camping Village Orri. What a world of difference! The receptionist told us to have a look round and find a pitch that suited us, then come back and check-in. This campsite was only half full and the pitches were not clearly defined, which gave it a higgledy-piggledy feel, but also much more spacious. We chose our sandy spot amongst the trees, providing some shady, but allowing the sun and light through.

    It was a lovely spot and we can stay for as long as we like. Unfortunately we made a real arse of ourselves erecting our tent. You’d think practice might make perfect!

    After unloading the car and setting up, we showered then tried out the campsite restaurant. Jackie had clam and mussel pasta, whilst I had macaroni with pork. It was nice, but in my humble opinion still not as tasty as what Jackie can turn out.

    I watched the football on my phone, because again we had a poor WiFi signal, then went to bed yet again shattered.

    Song of the Day - Pretty Flamingo by Manfred Mann.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsItalian Lakes and Islands 2024Simon and Jackie Annals

    Day 17 - Hallelujah, I (Still) Have(n’t)

    17 Jun 2024, Itali ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Found What I’m Looking For.

    We went for an early morning wee together at 6.10am, then got up at 8.20am. We have found a shower and toilet block near reception that literally no one else uses and the showers are massive. All for the price of just a short walk.

    Our exciting breakfast consisted of coffee, a banana and a laughing cow cheese. We then headed the less than 100 metres down a walkway for our first glimpse of the beach with bated breath. It was beautiful, just what we had been looking for. Jackie immediately declared that she loved it and we were staying here for the remainder of our time in Sardinia. She is so fickle, I recall her saying something similar at the last campsite and beach. On this occasion, I couldn’t agree with her more.

    The beach is a long crescent of sand dropping down into crystal clear waters. There are some children on the beach and in the campsite, but there is enough space to avoid them sufficiently. Apparently Italian children broke up from school on the 7th June and have 3 months summer holidays. I haven’t been irritated by them…YET.

    We returned to camp at lunchtime for a Laughing Cow cheese and tomato sandwich with a glass of wine, then returned to the beach, where we stayed until gone 6pm.

    Jackie made chilli con carne again, not because we are cheapskates but she was worried the minced beef might go off we left it any longer. The chilli came with extra chilli, which I feared might have repercussions!

    We had a couple of glasses of wine whilst watching the football. I did the washing up again which without doubt is my main job in camp, as well as being the occasional pot stirrer.

    We will almost certainly not be moving on now until we have to pack up and catch the ferry back to the mainland.

    At the time of writing I realised that I hadn’t forgotten to take any photos of the beach.

    Song of the Day - Cheapskates by The Clash.

    2nd Song of the Day - I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For by U2.

    3rd Song of the Day - Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsItalian Lakes and Islands 2024Simon and Jackie Annals

    Day 18 - Feared Repercussions Realised

    18 Jun 2024, Itali ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    I woke up inexplicably at 4.30am and tried to get back to sleep again. 15 minutes later my stomach started gurgling and I was frantically scrambling around the tent for some clothes and toilet paper before dashing across the campsite to the toilets. I don’t need to elaborate further, but I was cursing Jackie for the amount of chilli in last night’s chilli.

    After I emerged from the toilet, it was starting to get light so I walked down to the beach and took a couple of photos of the beach pre-sunrise. I couldn’t be bothered to wait for the actual sunrise.

    I returned to our tent and managed to get a short snooze in, whilst Jackie with the constitution of an ox slept right through.

    Later that morning over breakfast we chatted to our neighbours, a couple of German lads, who were packing up. It transpired that they were going home early, because one of them had had a bad motorcycle accident out here in Sardinia. As he so succinctly put it “Shit happens!”

    It was a bit of an overcast day, which may have been a blessing in disguise, because it was about 30 degrees. We stayed on the beach all day and plan to every day until we leave, so I will probably put the blog on hold.

    That night we had the remainder of the fiery chilli with pasta and salad. I diluted mine with half a pot of plain yoghurt. After the football, I went to bed and being prepared like a Boy Scout, I left my crocs, shorts and loo roll in a neat pile beside the tent door in anticipation of another early hours dash.

    Song of the Day - I Ran (So Far Away) by A Flock Of Seagulls.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsItalian Lakes and Islands 2024Simon and Jackie Annals
    1

    Day 19 to Day 22 - Carry On Camping

    20 Jun 2024, Itali ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Day 19 - As fully expected, Jackie’s chilli had me scampering, but not running, to the toilet three times during the morning.

    When my stomach had settled sufficiently we took a trip out to the EuroSpar supermarket in Tortolì. We bought various provisions including a slab of 15 bottles of our favourite beer for the football. On the way home, Jackie decided she wanted to buy some strawberries from a roadside stall. She came back with a huge punnet of strawberries, half a dozen peaches and six plums. Apparently it was a bargain for just €8!

    After an early salad lunch, we spent the afternoon on the beach.

    For dinner we had bacon rolls and watched the football.

    Day 20 - My alarm went off at 1.30am to watch the cricket. Annoyingly I had forgotten to allow for the time difference. I set my alarm to 2.30am and struggled to get back to sleep again. I watched the whole of the England v West Indies Cricket match, which was a really close game until the 16th over when England hit 30 off just six balls.

    We still got up around 8.30am and spent the whole day, except for a short lunch break on the beach until 5.30pm, when we rushed back and showered in time for the England v Denmark football match. What a dreary match. Southgate’s tactics are appalling and Kane is an absolute cart horse who should not even be in the squad.

    That night we sampled one of the campsite’s homemade takeaway pizzas. It was exquisite, 12” of absolute deliciousness. Definitely the best pizza I can ever remember eating!

    Day 21 - After breakfast we visited EuroSpar to stock up on some much needed supplies. It wasn’t particularly successful as they had no gas for our stove and only 2 litres of our favourite white wine.

    Upon our return it was again back to the beach, but this time I was able to watch the first innings of the England v South Africa cricket match on my iPad. At the interval we rushed back to camp in time for England to bat.

    We discovered we had new neighbours, another miserable Austrian couple, who had set up a massive satellite dish. The dish was making quite a hissing racket, which caused me to moan loudly and point at the offending cause. The neighbour got the hint, fiddled with his satellite dish and then packed it away. I felt a bit bad when I realised that at that time, Austria had been playing football in the Euro Championships and he ended up missing most of the game. Chin up, at least Austria won.

    I watched the disappointing England innings, whilst Jackie cooked another fantastic meal of steak, chips and salad. Some German women even had the audacity to come over and comment that I was watching the sport, whilst the wife cooked. Bloody cheek, she didn’t know that I am the washer upper and occasional pot stirrer!

    About 9.30pm, just as it had got dark, an Italian family of five arrived and attempted to put up a tent opposite ours with just one light between them. It was utter chaos, they didn’t appear to have ever erected the tent before. A member of staff told them they had to be quiet, which caused them to make more noise telling each other to be quiet. I sat in the shadows with a glass of red, chuckling to myself whilst I enjoyed the show.

    Day 22 - We spent all day on the beach under a clear blue sky and if I’m perfectly honest, we had too much sun. We both had red faces and slightly tender bodies. We decided to have a day out of the sun tomorrow. This actually worked out perfectly because it was scheduled to be cloudy day and we could avoid the Italian families Sunday tradition of flocking to the beach.

    The campsite is considerably busier now as it is Saturday, but we have managed to retain an empty pitch either side of us. It probably helps that we have encroached into one of those pitches with our tables and chairs.

    I was allowed to choose the pizza for our tea, which was the Orri, consisting of tomato, mozzarella, local sausage and blue cheese. It was lovely, but not as sensational as the pizza from the other night. I won’t be allowed to choose again!

    Song of the Days - The Beach and the Sea by Reverend And The Makers.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsItalian Lakes and Islands 2024Simon and Jackie Annals
    2

    Day 23 - Our Big Sunday Drive

    24 Jun 2024, Itali ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    As we had planned the previous evening, we were to have a rest from the sun and take a drive out. It was probably just as well because we had spots of rain just before we got out of bed. It was an overcast day, so our little road trip was guilt free that we weren’t missing out on the sun.

    After breakfast and a shower we hit the road. Our first stop was Orgosolo, which was just over an hour away. Our route took us up and over a mountain where we picked up a dual carriageway through the centre of the island. If you asked Jackie what the scenery had been like she wouldn’t have had a clue - her head was either in her iPad, counting her money, polishing the dashboard, getting sweets out of the glovebox or checking her hair and makeup.

    As we approached Orgosol, pieces of art started to appear at the roadside with sculptures made from junk or painted rocks. My SatNav took us through some horribly narrow streets before we arrived in the area we were looking for. We parked up and took a stroll around the town’s famed satirical caricatures and political murals. There were literally hundreds (some 200) of murals on every wall and building, many by notable artists. We didn’t particularly what they were saying or referring to, but it they were very artistic. I took numerous photos along with the other sightseers as we wandered up and down the main street and its side streets and alleyways.

    Orgosolo is described in my Lonely Planet book as being Sardinia’s most notorious town, its name long a byword for the banditry and violence that blighted this part of the island for so long. Once the day-trippers have gone, the villagers reclaim their streets - the old boys to sit staring at anyone they don’t recognise and the lads with crewcuts to race up and down in their mud-splattered cars. I can totally believe this. There was a real sense of resentment by the locals as they sat in groups outside the bars and cafes glaring at us tourists. They seemed to take great pleasure in stopping their cars in the street to block the road hence preventing decent photos of the murals.

    Having seen as many as we could find, we stopped in a little locals bar for a quick cold beer. Suitably refreshed, we returned to the car and headed for another hour east to Cala Gonone. It was a pleasant drive through a fairly agricultural region. We crossed a lake, Lago Del Cedrino, on a high bridge called Sul Viadotto, then followed the SP38 with glorious mountain and lake views to the mountain town of Dorgali, heaving with motorcyclists.

    We continued through a mountain tunnel then down the steep road with a series of hairpin bends to the quaint fishing harbour town of Cala Gonone. We drove down to the harbour which had some appealing looking restaurants that another day would have been worthy of a stop. The harbour is best known as the place to rent a boat or take a boat trip along the coast to a number of apparently beautiful coves only accessible from the water.

    We continued 3km south to Cala Fuili, the only such cove that was accessible by car and a short walk. Despite it being thick cloud above, the road to the beach was still busy with parked cars of beach goers. We drove to the end, where I jumped out on the roundabout and took a photo of the segment of the cove that was visible.

    We didn’t hang about, so we drove back up the hairpin bend road, only just avoiding being hit by a coach and several cars racing around the bends in the middle of the road. Italian drivers are aggressive impatient idiots to put it politely. Rest assured that wasn’t the language I shouted at them.

    After driving back through the mountain tunnel, we headed south on the SS125, reputed to be an extremely scenic 40 odd mile stretch of road. We weren’t disappointed, views of attractive mountains, valleys and the sea all the way. The windy road was an obvious draw for the legions of motorcyclists hacking past us in both directions. We witnessed some crazy overtakes on blind bends.

    Our final stop on my itinerary was to Il Golgo, an abyss that was an apparent remarkable feat of nature. We didn’t find it. Instead we drove to Pedra Longo, a huge rock that rose up out of the sea. We explored and took a couple of photos. Upon returning to the car, we got the cricket on the iPad and drove back to camp stopping for wine and water on the way.

    Back in camp, I watched the remainder of the cricket in which England comprehensively thrashed USA, whilst Jackie made dinner. Dinner was entitled ‘The Food Poisoning Lottery’. It was fried yellow chicken, that may or may not have been two days out of date, with mozzarella, mushroom, onion and pesto pasta and salad. Without sounding boring, it was again delicious and a great end to a great day.

    Song of the Day - Subvert City by The Subhumans.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsItalian Lakes and Islands 2024Simon and Jackie Annals

    Day 24 - A Metaphor For Our Marriage?

    24 Jun 2024, Itali ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    Woke up to a lovely sunny morning. I frantically sent a number of Happy Anniversary GIFs on WhatsApp to Jackie. Today was our 29th wedding anniversary and I had forgotten to buy Jackie a card. Whoops.

    After a sufficient amount of creeping, we headed to the beach for a day of sun. Every thing was good and at lunchtime we opened a celebrationary bottle of wine and a packet of olives. All of a sudden we noticed some nasty looking black clouds looming up behind us, then the sun disappeared and we had drops of rain.

    Despite our best perseverance we were forced to abandon the beach and we sought shelter in tent. As it was our anniversary we elected to treat ourselves to a cheeky afternoon siesta. We had just got comfortable, when Jackie complained that her airbed was deflating. We blew it up, but it went down again pretty much straightaway. We had a frustrating next hour repeatedly re-inflating the airbed until we finally found the problem - a small nick on a seam on the side. We originally had 2 of these airbeds and they have both punctured through product failure. We were absolutely not impressed.

    After surfing the internet for local camping shops (there weren’t any), we decided to get up. To our horror we had puddles of water on the floor of our tent. Everything was damp and anything that had been on the floor was saturated. It had been raining much harder than we realised due to being pre-occupied with airbeds and it seems that our tent is pitched in a small dip.

    We went outside to discover our nice sandy campsite now resembled the Somme. There were dirty puddles everywhere including in the seat of our camping chairs. For the next hour or so, we attempted to clean up and hang things out to dry. We were thoroughly pissed off - we wouldn’t have had this shitty weather in Greece, where we were originally going!!!

    With all our clothes damp, we couldn’t be bothered to have a shower, so we put on our least wet clothes and went for dinner in the camp restaurant. I wore soggy shorts and an X-Ray-Spex t-shirt. Very classy for our anniversary dinner.

    Jackie had lasagna and I had carbonara, together with a bowl of chips and a litre of very nice house red. We went straight to bed after. When I say bed, I mean just half a bed each to the top half of our bodies.

    I’m sure we’ve had better anniversaries.

    Song of the Day - Anniversary by Theatre Of Hate.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsItalian Lakes and Islands 2024Simon and Jackie Annals

    Day 25 - Ménage à Trois

    25 Jun 2024, Itali ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    We both woke up with bad backs from having just the one airbed to sleep on. Despite this we didn’t get out of bed until gone 9am, then dithered and dallied around camp. It was gone 11am before we ventured out to the beach despite it being a gloriously sunny morning.

    After less than an hour on the beach, black clouds arrived and the beach emptied. We were forced to follow the crowds and return to camp. We had an early tapas lunch of olives, silver skin onions and a lovely nutty local cheese, oh and some wine.

    After lunch we had a long walk along the beach, then decided to persevere sunbathing in the occasional glimpse of sun between the clouds. It was a disappointing day weather wise, especially when we knew that it was hotter and sunnier at home.

    That evening we had the pizza previously chosen by Jackie, which was lovely, but didn’t have the wow factor that it had the 1st time of eating. For clarification it was the Pizza Diavoli, that was topped with salami, cheese, onions and peppers.

    We finished just in time to watch the final England group match, but after trying and trying, I couldn’t get it up on my iPad. We were forced to go to the bar and watch it on the tv . We took our own drinks to save on cost. The Italian families that were in the vicinity, but weren’t even watching the football made so so much noise that we couldn’t concentrate properly on the game, which was probably a good thing!

    The game was an absolute embarrassment. Only Kobbie Mainoo was entitled to leave the field with his head held high! To add to my disappointment, at the final whistle, the waiter believing that I had purchased drinks from the bar insisted on relieving me of one of our prized beer glasses. I attempted to explain that it was my glass, but I knew when it was time to cut my losses.

    That night we went to bed with Lolly - our Zoom lolly shaped lilo, at the end of the bed to try and compensate for the lack of a second airbed. She wasn’t perfect, but we will be sleeping with her again!

    Song of the Day - Noise, Noise, Noise by The Damned.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsItalian Lakes and Islands 2024Simon and Jackie Annals

    Day 26 - Sun, Sun, Sun

    26 Jun 2024, Itali ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    We got up early because the weather forecast was for sun all day long. After a breakfast of marmalade on crackers, we headed to the beach and we were in our sunbathing positions before 9am.

    Apart from a stroll up the beach and the odd dip in the sea we didn’t move. At lunchtime, we popped back to collect a supply of wine and some olives, then resumed sunbathing. We treated Lolly to a swim.

    We didn’t leave the beach until 6.30pm. We had a shower, then Jackie announced that she was going to knock up a pasta meal with the odds and sods of uneaten food that we had in the fridge. It was as good as any meal that had made on this trip.

    I am still being frustrated that I can’t get the football. We resorted to having an early night with Lolly.

    Song of the Day - Sunshine After The Rain by Elkie Brooks.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsItalian Lakes and Islands 2024Simon and Jackie Annals

    Day 27 - Elephant Rock

    27 Jun 2024, Itali ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    We got up at 7.30am and spent a fairly incompetent morning of cleaning and packing. After a shower and breakfast it was just after 11am when the car was fully loaded and we rolled out of the site. We had stayed on the campsite for a total of 11 nights, which cost us just €23 a night thanks to our ACSI card. Absolute bargain!

    Our first stop was EuroSpar for some essentials - our new favourite nutty cheese, beer and wine. We tried to buy some stamps at a Post Office but the queue was too long.

    We then set the SatNav for Port Torres and selected the fastest route to catch our ferry back to Genoa. The interior of Sardinia does not have a lot to write home about. It is mountainous scrubland with just the odd small town or random restaurant.

    We didn’t stop anywhere until we took a very minor detour to a Decathlon shop in Sassari, where we purchased a single ‘luxury’ airbed and 2 gas canisters for the cooker.

    We were still 50 minutes early for the ferry check-in, but Jackie insisted we go anyway. Our ferry was in port, but it was surprisingly quiet. We pulled up at the security point where we were informed that check-in had been delayed until 6pm, some 2 hours 20 minutes later. Initially pissed off, because they could have sent us an email, which we wouldn’t have read, I suggested finding a beach which Jackie shut down immediately.

    Instead we went McDonalds for a coffee, to get some WiFi, use their toilet and reassess. We ended up buying a Big Mac each and shared a fries and coke. I had somewhere in mind and with WiFi I was able to discover it was just 22 miles along the northern coast of the island.

    We headed off taking a small detour through the holiday resort of Castelsardo to Elephant Rock. I didn’t know what to expect, but actually it was better than I could have ever imagined. We took a few photos, mainly with an irritating Italian woman in the way, then at Jackie’s insistence we rushed back to Port Torres.

    The guard at the security point had told us to return around 6.10pm, but we arrived half an hour early to find a huge single line queue. We chose to park up and listen to the cricket as the queue got longer and longer. After 6pm, the queue started moving and a 2nd queue which we now couldn’t get to, formed for those just arriving. If only we had heeded the guard’s advice!

    It was another chaotic embarkation, but we eventually boarded and found our cabin. We watched the disappointing sunset fade to nothing over Stintino with a couple of flasks of white wine. We then had a sandwich, a shower and fell asleep in our lovely bug free, dirt free, airbed free cabin.

    Song of the Day - Elephant Stone by The Stone Roses.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsItalian Lakes and Islands 2024Simon and Jackie Annals

    Day 28 - Tale of the Two Angels

    28 Jun 2024, Perancis ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Jackie Annals……………..Genoa?
    Yes, I know it is a rubbish joke.

    At 6.10am, the tannoy burst into life to inform us that we would be docking at 7.45am. Every 15 minutes she reminded us of the same information. Jackie got up at 6.30am for a shower & I got up at 7.10am by which time the cleaners had knocked on our door twice.

    It wasn’t until gone 9am, that we started disembarking. More chaos ensued, because vehicles were pointing in both directions. We actually had to make a 3 point turn to get off. We headed for the nearest McDonalds, but there was no place to stop, let alone find a parking place. We headed on to another McDonalds, but again there were zero parking spots.

    We gave up and headed to our intended destination, the Monumental Cemetery of Staglieno. Without looking - any idea what music connection it has?

    We located it fairly simply, but again trying to find any parking place seemed impossible. We cruised the backstreets for at least half an hour, before finally finding a suitable spot, which was also free!

    We walked to the cemetery and found a popular little cafe outside for breakfast. Two coffees, a croissant and a buttered focaccia (as eaten by all the locals) cost just €5.

    Around 10am, we finally entered the Monumental Cemetery of Staglieno. It was not an exaggeration to say that it was monumental. The below 5 paragraphs I have copied and pasted from various websites.

    ‘The Monumental Cemetery of Staglieno is an extensive monumental cemetery located on a hillside in the district of Staglieno of Genoa, Italy, famous for its monumental sculpture. Covering an area of more than a square kilometre, it is one of the largest cemeteries in Europe. Other references say it is the largest Cemetery in Europe.

    The strong British influence in the city of Genoa in the late 19th century is reflected in the separate British Cemetery at Staglieno which contains the graves of British and Commonwealth servicemen from both the First and Second World Wars. There are 230 from the First, (during which period there were 3 British military hospitals in the area) and 122 from the Second. The latter, buried in a plot designed by architect Louis de Soissons, were mainly garrison burials or reburials concentrated from other cemeteries.

    Photographs of two tombs in the cemetery are featured on the covers of records by the English band Joy Division. The Appiani family tomb, sculpted by Demetrio Paernio c. 1910, was used on the cover of the album Closer. A grieving angel on the Ribaudo family tomb, sculpted by Onorato Toso also c. 1910, was used as an alternate cover for the 12" version of the single "Love Will Tear Us Apart". Both photographs were taken by Bernard Pierre Wolff in 1978.

    Other references include:-

    “One of the wonders of the world”. With these words the great Ernest Hemingway described the Monumental Cemetery of Staglieno, a real open-air museum, today considered one of the most important and fascinating in Europe.

    “Our last sight was the cemetery, and we shall continue to remember it after we shall have forgotten the palaces”. (Mark Twain)’

    Back to me:-

    I was obviously particularly interested in visiting the Appiani and Ribaudo family tombs. The cemetery was almost overwhelming and I failed in my research to identify the exact location of those two tombs. I was keen to still see the whole cemetery, so we marched around trying to miss nothing. Unfortunately we had no sunscreen or water and soon the beating sun took its toll.

    Jackie also tripped up on some steps, hurting her hands and knees again, but apparently I wasn’t sympathetic as I told her that she was a clumsy so and so. I had my very own fallen angel, but apparently not grieving.

    Jackie’s favourite aspect of the cemetery was when we accidentally ended up in a path behind the functioning crematorium. We walked around the front, where we saw funeral undertakers delivering coffins to the crematorium. We outstayed our welcome, particularly as I got caught trying to take photos, but we saw the crematorium staff removing the metal bolts then pushing the coffins into the furnace.

    I was getting more than a little bit frustrated that I couldn’t find what I was looking for, when suddenly we accidentally found the Ribaudo family tomb of the Grieving Angel, I was chuffed to bits to have found it. After several photos from all angles, we continued.

    We found Appiani family tomb shortly after and I was able to tick off another chapter in my I-spy book of album cover photos. Satisfied that over a period of 2.5 hours, we had covered pretty much seen everything of interest in the cemetery, we made our exit and returned to the car.

    We set the SatNav to Menton, just over the border in France. The fastest route was on the A10 toll road which was 109 miles in distance taking just over 2 hours or on a road avoiding tolls which took over 5 hours. It was a no brainer!

    The dual carriageway was notable for the number of tunnels that we passed through. I have read varying numbers from 78 in Wikipedia to several websites referring to 110 tunnels between Genoa and Monaco. Either way it was a hell of a lot and soon the novelty passed. It was a strain on the eyes, repeatedly being blinded by the sun or peering into the gloom of the tunnels. My sunglasses didn’t know whether they were coming or going!

    Two hours later, we paid the toll fee of €21.10, then passed into France and immediately drove down into Menton and to our posh…ish hotel, Hotel Mileade L’Orangeraie. We were allowed to check-in early and we parked our car in their private car park for €9.

    ‘Menton, the last French Riviera town before you reach Italy, is one of the Côte d'Azur’s most blissful stops, with an enviable microclimate affording more than 300 days of sunshine a year, lush botanical gardens, ample sandy beaches, a compelling Old Town, and plenty of restaurants and hotels with prices lower than in a number of other Riviera towns. Although it may be lesser known than Cannes and St. Tropez, Menton has deep experience in tourism—it was one of the Riviera’s earliest resorts, attracting English (including Queen Victoria) and Russian aristocrats in the late 1800s’.

    After dumping our bags we headed out on my second walking tour of the day. Our first stop in the hilly, medieval old town was the Basilique Saint-Michel, with its 18th-century bell tower, and the ornate facade of La Chapelle des Pénitents-Blancs. Outside were a theatre group performing some sort of play (in French).

    We then walked down to the busy beach and took a stroll along the promenade for about a mile in the blistering sun and still without sunscreen. Jackie started to lose her sense of humour. We finally turned up from the seafront and through the attractive gardens of Les Jardins Bioves.

    Now very thirsty we scoured the surrounding area near our hotel and eventually found a little non-touristy bar with a couple of old men sat outside. Perfect. We ordered 2 large beers followed by 2 more. I went up to pay with my €20 note. I nearly choked when I saw the bill for €34, forcing me to hurriedly whip out my credit card to pay. Thieving French Bastards!

    We returned to the hotel for a shower and a bottle of fizz, then went out in the best clothes that we had with us for a proper anniversary dinner. Sod the cost……..well within reason!

    We had identified 2 restaurants that we wanted to eat in. The first was a posh burger restaurant that did steaks, but they only had a table free for an hour. We weren’t going to be rushed. The 2nd was L’Orangerie, which had a free outside table for two.

    We both opted for the €39 three course Plat du Jour together with a bottle of not so cheap white wine and a bottle of sparkling water. Jackie chose a seafood mousse followed by duck with cherries and sweet potato purée followed by a Peach Melba. I chose the duck terrine, followed by roast pork and ratatouille followed by chocolate fondant with peach. It was a stunning dinner and better than we could have ever hoped for. The wine was gorgeous and the ambience was improved even more so by a fantastic female singer singing well known English songs in French. It was the perfect evening, kindly paid for by Dominic, Jackie’s stepdad.

    Song of the Day - Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • 2025© FindPenguins
  • Utama
  • Mengenai kami
  • Penjejakan kumpulan
  • Akhbar
  • Terma
  • Privasi & Cookies
  • Pusat Bantuan
  • Cetakan