February 16, 2007. Today we wire transferred 500 euros ($675) to D Turner Cars and Campers in Utrecth Netherlands as a deposit on a 1989 VW diesel camper van. So another adventure begins. On these pages we will tell you about the adventure. It will not be a how-to book with advice and lists of services and facilities. There is already a very good one of those “Take Your RV to Europe” by Adelle and Ron Milavsky. Rather it will be the story of what will happen to us. Most of it will be written by me (Jack). When Sandy adds her feminine points it will be in italics so you can know who’s talking. We have been traveling by boat, car, van, and RV since 1992. This is not about us, but about low cost European travel. This is how the trip evolved: We wanted to attend a wedding in Southern California this January. If we travel to the west coast we have to visit our family and friends. We have five children, twelve grandchildren, five great grandchildren, one sister’s family, and numberless friends spread from San Diego to Portland, and we found that the price for airline tickets and/or rental cars to visit them all was enormous. So we decided to drive. We are strange in that we both like to drive; seeing varying scenery along the way and meeting interesting people at the various stops. Also, it would give us a chance to visit with Chuck and Gigi Taylor in New Orleans which is always our first stop from our home in Western Florida. They were our cruising buddies for three years, and have remained friends. We would also be able to connect with our other cruising buddies, Hugh and Christine Richards who were RVing in California and Arizona. We had cruised with them in Mexico and in the Bahamas, and had visited them at their home in British Columbia.

On the drive home from California we started talking about our future travel plans. We decided to reconsider our last year plans. Last year we started a three year sailboat cruise through the great loop. That is a journey around the eastern United States. We had motor sailed from our home around the bottom of Florida and up the east coast intralcoastal waterway to the Chesapeake Bay. At the end of this seven month cruise we left our 26 foot boat in a boat storage yard in Maryland intending to return in April to continue up the east coast and through the Erie Canal to the great lakes and the Canadian canals. We would leave the boat for another winter, probably in Michigan, and then continue down the Illinois River to the Mississippi and Ohio rivers and into the Ten-Tom waterway to Mobile and on home the next year. While driving we talked about what would be our first choice in travel. We have tried twice to get our small boat down to the West Indies, and found the trip too rough with Utopia Too. We could ship it down on a barge, then cruise the islands. We had also talked about taking the boat to Europe. We have always wanted to travel extensively in Europe, but felt we could not afford it. But things have changed. Our friends are dying. This is not surprising as we live in a retirement community. We decided to look into doing an expensive trip even if we could ill afford it. It is deciding between saving for your old age, and using that money while we can still enjoy it. So we decided on Europe. We would leave Utopia Too on the hard In Maryland, and take off.

We had talked about sailing the boat, but we are too old and the boat is too small for us to sail across the North Atlantic. If we took the boat, we could avoid the expenses of hotels and restaurants. After we arrived home, I got on the internet and looked for methods of shipping the boat to Europe. The freight would cost about $5000. We could afford that. The problem came when I looked into fees. When sailors enter a foreign port they run up a yellow quarantine flag on the starboard spreader and head to the port director’s office to check in. This takes a few hours including visiting the immigration and customs offices. There is usually a fee such as the $150 for our small boat to enter the Bahamas, That’s about all there is to it. Most countries limit the time you can stay to a few months, but in Europe there are lots of countries so one can cruise for years. Since Utopia Too is a sail boat we could also cruise the Med. But! The game changes when you ship a boat on a freighter. The boat is now cargo and a freight forwarder is needed. At the other end an agent has to handle the importation. There are fees and bureaucratic problems galore. I eventually gave up.

Sandy found the Miavsky book in the library. They had shipped their small motor home on a drive-on-drive-off freighter, and spent a couple of summers in the campgrounds of Europe. We could do that. We had an RV like theirs in 1997, and had taken an extensive tour of the US. We had also had a VW van for a few years and had taken it to Nova Scotia one year and to Alaska for four months another time. The roads and streets in Europe are often narrow and some drivers, particularly in Italy, are wild. The van, while not as comfortable is the size of a car and less of a problem than the small RV. We are used to “living small” in the van and in our tiny sailboat, and knew from experience that we could travel for months that way. I started looking into buying a van here and shipping it over to Europe. We talked to the woman who had bought our old van about selling it back to us. In the meantime, I found a source of used vans in the Netherlands. One of the vans had a new motor installed last year, and was available for 5250 E which is about $7000. That includes an 18% VAT (value added tax). The agent will buy the unit back at the end of our travel. There are also insurance and registration fees. At that point I estimated that we could get started for under $10,000 which we could manage. The agency guarantees the vehicle for thirty days. They will fix defects or refund all but 500E of the purchase price if the unit is not reparable. The agent has a list of customers on her web site. I e-mailed one, and the couple said that the agency was reliable, although disorganized. So we invested the $675 deposit and bought two one-way airline tickets ($800) as a start on the rest of our lives.

The plan was to leave the first week in April. Our resolve was strengthened by the death of two friends in January. A very close friend came down with cancer, and Sandy’s sister’s husband came down with serious cancer that was fatal the week before we were ready to leave.

HERE WE GO

We arranged for Sandy’s son Stephen to house and kitty sit for the year. We removed the license plates from our car and canceled the registration so we could save the insurance fees. (In Florida, if you register a car without insurance your driver’s license is suspended.) We rented a car ($58) to drive one way to the airport with our four bags of luggage. Our flight was from Tampa to JFK with a plane change for Amsterdam. We arrived at the airport about 8:00 AM on April 4. We called Donna Turnner, and she said the car was ready. We checked our four bags as they were too much to handle on the train. We did not have to struggle with money exchange as son Mark had given us 350 E as a going away present. When we arrived in Utrecht we took a taxi to Turnner and met Donna. She is an American who married a Hollander some years ago. Apparently, they started the business before he died, and she now runs it with the help of a mechanic who gets the vehicles ready to go. She said that one of her customers had been able to pay by going to a local bank to get the money from a visa card. We had made arrangements with our credit union in California for this to work. Donna went with us to the bank, and it did not work. She let us take the van for a few days while we fixed the money problem. So we drove up to the airport to get our bags then drove to the campground that was recommended by our European camping book. European Camping by Mike and Terry Church served us very well as it helped us find very adequate campgrounds everywhere we went.

The campground “Camping de Berekuil” was nice and the owners were nice also. On Thursday we went to the market about a mile or so away. It was similar to a small supermarket at home and the prices were about what we would pay in Florida, so food expense would be reasonable. The packaging sizes are smaller however. In order to finish paying for the vehicle, we tried to take 250 Euros from atms, but after three trips, the computer must have decided our cards were stolen and shut us down. The credit cards were not very useful either. We went back to Donnas gave her the 250E, and called the credit union and eventually arranged to have money transferred. This took a few days, so we stayed in Utrecth until April 10.

In the meantime we bought things that we needed to make our van comfortable. I had brought an inverter to use the second battery to operate our lap top. It did not work even though that system had been OK in our boat. A 1000/2000 watt heater came with the van, but many campgrounds in Europe have only 6 amps of current available at 230 volts and 50 cycles. When the refrigerator was on AC and the heater on 2000 watts we blew the campground breaker. So we bought a second heater of 800/1600 watts. It kept the van warm enough in early April. The van had one camp chair, but we bought another. We also bought some pots and plates to have enough cooking equipment. We took the city bus to the centrum (city center) where they had a market. We were able to buy cheese and other good things as well as a hammer to pound in the tent stakes for the side tent we had brought with us from Florida. We also found an air mattress that exactly fit the bed in the camper so we would sleep more comfortably. On Easter Monday (a national holiday) we drove the camper to a suburb called Zeist-west to buy the above mentioned heater and a second propane tank. The tank is about a fourth the size of the ones used on barbeques at home, but they are much more expensive. Now, we can have fuel if we run out in the middle of cooking. We will also use propane for the refrigerator when we are not hooked to the AC. The refrigerator is also supposed to run on 12 volts, but doing so ran the second battery down. I found that the engine was not charging it anyway. So we went to Donnas and had the mechanic, Husain, fix it. It was a bad ground. We finally got in touch with our bank using Donna’s phone and arrainged a cash transfer. It worked and we could now go on with our trip. Donna’s mechanic, Husain, changed the oil before we left. We drove to Keukenhof which is a flower park that is fantastic. I think I took 100 digital photos. The colors are so intense it is unbelievable. The tulip season is short, but we made it at the peak. The nearby tulip fields are also something to see. We stayed at a campground near Nordvick with no electricity. It was near the North Sea beach and we got a chance to walk near the water.

The next day we drove to a campground near Delft. It is called Campground de Uylenburg. We could walk a couple of miles into Delft. The next day we drove one mile and parked to walk less. We did market day in a beautiful town. While in Utrecth we talked to a computer geek who told us we could get a charger for our lap top at any computer store. We asked a man on the street and got directions. At first we bought a new charger, but that night I realized that our American charger was OK for 230 volts. The next day we returned the charger and the store clerk told us where we could get a 230 volt plug that fit our charger. It saved us 50E. Delft is famous for porcelain. The Dutch East India Company was originally located in Delft and had brought the techniques from China in the 1600s. We visited a small factory. The process is based on a suspension of English or German white clay which is poured into a porous mold As the water is absorbed by the mold, a layer that is strong enough to polish can be removed. The remaining slurry is poured out. The wall thickness of a vase is dependent on how long the slurry remains in the mold. The “green” ceramic is painted by hand to pattern that is applied by dusting charcoal through a pin holed template in light paper. The artist paints that pattern. In this manner all the painting is by hand to a fixed pattern. The paint is a mixture of copper and cobalt oxides. The finished “green” is then dipped or sprayed with a glass frit and then fired at 1900 degrees F. This process produces the typical blue Delft pattern. They also have developed other colors. This hand painted ceramic is expensive, so we did not buy anything. There are automatic factories in the area that produce less

The Delft campground was pleasant with some resident rabbits and a herd of horses next door for us to watch. Delft was he home of the painter Johannes Vermeer. William of Orange (1533-1584) the founder of the Dutch royal family is buried in the church as are all following members including the present Queen’s mother. William was killed while stuck in Delft during some war. They can even show you the bullet holes. We did not go into the church or any museums as they charge admissions. Europe is full of museums that charge admission. We have to limit this for financial reasons.

On the thirteenth of April we had a day from Hell. Our credit cards did not work at the store. We eventually found that it was their system and our cards for credit and debit are now working OK. Sandy called Donna, and the funds had been transferred, but the exchange rate was wrong and we owed another 315E. We told her we would come back and settle up. On 4/14 we visited the windmills at Kinderdijk. They had a nice explanation of how they had recovered land by using the mills to pump. Now they use huge diesel pumps. We went on to Gouda. It was market day and we enjoyed it all. We bought some Goudas cheese. We were able to park overnight in the town parking lot. They have three sites that are free for three days. The Frenchman next to us had backed into a pole and bent his motorcycle rack. We tried to help him, but it had to go to a garage. They invited us over for wine and conversation. They were very nice.

On Sunday the 15th we attended the services at the local church. It was Dutch Reformed. We did not understand the language, but the man behind us kindly pointed out where we were in the songs. It seemed to me that the sermon mentioned Old Testament people like Moses more than Christ. Half the hymns were from the psalms. The crowd was large and there were quite a few young people. The organ was huge, but the big building had poor acoustics so the choir was hard to hear. We drove to Utrecht and paid Donna the last of the money owed. We paid 5250E for the van, 600E for a year’s liability insurance, and 328E for road tax for a total of 6178E. This is about $8500 at 1.35 exchange rate and some for transfer fees. Now the van is ours and we are free to go. We drove to a beach campground near Harlaam. The beach was crowded because it was Sunday. We walked a mile or two in the sand. The next day we went into the town of Zandvort to fill our first propane tank. We stayed another night in a nearby campground after trying to get into Harlaam. There was so much road work I could not find my way. The next day we started north stopping in schagen. They had a very modern mall. It looked like an upscale community. Then we visited the 30 km dyke that closed off the Zyder Zee in the 1920-30. The visitor’s center was interesting, explaining the development of the project to protect the area from storm flooding and to reclaim land. We ended up in Sneek for two days at Campground de Domp which is also a marina. On the week end we watched the skippers of classical boats take visitors out. One of the skippers spends his winters in the DR. They could sure handle their boats.

We drove for the day up to the north to visit some of the farm lands and see another dyke. We went through Lewarden, Stiens, Dokkum, and Holsword. We had lunch at Lauwersoog which is a ferry port for the trip to the barrier islands about four miles off shore in the North Sea. This is about the northern extreme of the Netherlands. Along the way we noticed one tire was low. We found a garage and asked for a new valve for the tire as I thought it was leaking. When the worker tried to fill it he found the valve stem was cracked. Three of them jacked up the van, removed the wheel, took it into the garage to change the stem and remounted it. It took over 15 minutes, but they would not take money. Great people. The Northern Province is called Frisland. They have their own language and some degree of autonomy.

On the 21st it was market day in Sneek and we went into town and bought some groceries and had a good time. At the marina at De Doop we walked on a1900 tall mast boat here for tour day. The boat has a steel hull with tall wooden masts, spars, and side (lee) boards. The skipper was very friendly but needs a female mate that likes to sail. He stays winters in the DR, very nice. Lots of fun to see ships up close.

On the 22nd we drove south to Arnheim, and stayed at Hooge Venlawe. It was nice and within walking distance to the national park. The next day we visited the park. They have 1700 free bicycles for visitors. We rode some 10 or 14 km into the visitor’s center. It had a great explanation of the geology, environment, animal life and plant life of the area that had been a private estate. It has a large “hunting lodge” that is now a museum. We did not visit it. We were tired, and Ann Marie, who worked at the visitor’s center, offered us a ride back to the camp ground. The art museum was closed. It has one of the largest collections of Van Gough paintings in the world that were given to the nation by the woman who had owned the property until around 1950.

On April 24 we drove north to Lelystadt. Lely was the designer of the dyke program in the 1920s. We toured a tall ship, Batavia, that was recently built there using the materials and methods of the 16th century. The original Batavia was built for the Dutch East India trade, but was lost on the coast of Australia on its maiden voyage. We had freits and cokes at a stand in the new outlet mall next to the boat yard. Friets are French fries and are the national fast food in most of Europe. They use mayonnaise with them. We then crossed the dyke that separates the Ijssel Meer from the Marker Meer. We stopped for the night at Camping Jacht Haven Uidam. The next morning (the 25th) we visited nearby Marchem. It tries to continue the old dress with wooden shoes and all at least on holidays. We also stopped at Edam to see the old buildings. There was supposed to be a cheese market that day, but we did not find it. We then drove to near Amsterdam and a campground at Zeeburg. We expected to meet Ron and Mercie of our yacht club in Hudson Beach, but the woman at the campground said their hotel was near Eindhoven about 100 miles south. Later they told us that their travel agent said the hotel was near Amsterdam where the cruise ship they took from Florida docked. Actually, they were bussed to Veldhoven.

So we drove to Veldhoven on the next day. We stopped at Donna’s in Utrecth to have Husein fix the charging system for our house battery. It turned out to be a loose wire. He also replaced some bushings in the front suspension to fix a squeak. It worked. While he was busy we walked to the mall at the station to find some plastic wine glasses to replace our glass ones that tend to break. We also had lunch at an open air restaurant. Sandy had asparagus soup and I had a Belgian waffle with ice cream and whipped cream. When Husain was finished, we drove to Veldhoven and parked at Molenveldem campground.

The next day we checked the hotel to make sure that Ron and Mercie were expected. We visited the centrum with its modern mall. We went to the library and did our e-mail. We forwarded a picture sent to us by a commercial photographer who took our picture in Utrecth. She had an assignment that included a tourist picture. We stopped at a pub near our campground and asked if there was a phone. The owner let us use his phone to check up on Ron and Mercie. The nice man looked up the phone number for us. It turned out that they had arrived, but were not in their room. We left a message. We had a beer. The bar tender was a very nice woman whom the owner said was his daughter. When I thanked him for his kindness, I told him I would trade one of my sons for his daughter. (Just kidding Mark and Paul)

On the 28th we met Ron and Mercie at their hotel at 10:00. Their tour had included a trip to the flower gardens at Kuchkenhof. Since they had missed the opportunity we drove them there by of the back roads (the freeway was traffic jammed). We stopped at Gouda to see the Saturday market, and have lunch at an open air restaurant. They also got to see and photograph a windmill. The gardens were passed their peak, particularly for the tulips, but it was still magnificent. We then drove back to Belhoven, stopping for dinner in a restaurant in an old city Hertsdegoven (sp?). That put the cap on a great day. We left them at their hotel at about 9:00. We all enjoyed the day with friends from a faraway home.

The next day was Sunday so we went to mass at the local Catholic Church in belhoven. It was a small congregation, but the choir was excellent. We then left the Netherlands and drove to Antwerp Belgium. We drove to the centrum through neighborhoods that were not as clean as the similar ones in the Netherlands. The town square was actually three squares one had a magnificent cathedral that we visited. We had a pizza in an outdoor restaurant. Then we drove to campground Bergen just outside Brussels. The next day we took the bus to Brussels. The central square is a tourist attraction, but the city hall and all the guild houses are something to see. We had beer and chips in an open air café. We walked the modern mall among ancient buildings, and visited the cathedral. It again was beautiful, but we are getting cathedraled out. We took the bus back to the campground. That was the end of April, our first month.

On May Day we stayed at the campground. Jack worked on the computer and read. Sandy read and napped. We needed rest because of a tiring day of walking yesterday. It is a nice campground with free showers. Campers are sitting in bathing suits while Jack and I are in jeans and windbreakers.

The next day we slept late, and broke camp at 10:00. We drove to Namur. We walked the centrum and had lunch at a sandwich shop. It was very busy with students from the local college and high school. Then it was on to Dinant and a campground. We had shopped for groceries at a small town north of Dinant. We were camped next to some Dutch people. They had a grandson along with them, and were very hospitable. His name was John. The next morning we left the campground, and visited the citadel on the hill above the town. We rode a cable car some 300 feet to the fortress on the hill overlooking the town and the bridge over the river. The fortress had extensive defenses, but had been captured a number of times. We visited the church which was very dark inside.

Then we drove on to La Roche de Ardennes. This is a town in a gorge that is now a place where kayakers and white water rafters vacation. There is a picturesque fort above this town as well, but we did not walk the steps up to visit just another castle. We were able to “dry camp” in the parking area that night. This part of Belgium was the location of the Battle of the Bulge in WWII. There are a number of American tanks as memorials. Belgium is hilly with many river valleys like in La Roche. As we drove west after leaving the land gradually became flat and the farms larger.

We drove to Tornai to Camping de l’orient. We are now in the Wallonia or French speaking part of Belgium. As usual they seem to make an effort to not speak English. The campground manager was a retired fireman, and very friendly although he spoke little English. The next day we drove into town to the market. We found an internet café to do e-mail. I could not write a message to our friends and family because the keyboard on the computer was French. The rest of the world that I know of uses the same keyboard that was on old typewriters. Not the French. They have the letters in a different arraignment and the numbers require a shift key. Everything has to be especially French. That night we went to dinner at a restaurant at which the campground manager cooks. Sandy had moussels (mussels) and I had a steak kebab. That morning Sandy tried to wash clothes at the campground, and the machine broke down with wet clothes in it. The wife of the manager took the wet clothes into her own machine and hung them out to dry in the sun while we were in town. Very nice people.

The next day we drove to Ghent. The trip was through rolling farm lands. We went to the flower market in the square. They had a pavilion with a formal band playing. We then walked to the centrum which had four catholic churches in a few blocks. One was the cathedral with many works of art including a Rubens and a Van Dyke. We then walked back to the car and Sandy fixed lunch.

The dinner was roasted lamb, potatoes, peas, and gravy. It was the first time for roasted lamb in our van with wine. We usually play cards, read or watch movies on our computer. Today we read, very relaxing. The weather has been blustery today with rain. We are still wearing sweatshirts for warmth. At 9:30 PM it starts to get dark. The sun is up at sixish, so it is a long day. It almost reminds us of Alaska days. We also saw windmills today because Holland is not far and we are in the north part of Belgium. Back in the canal lands and dykes. The Southern part of Belgium is hilly and forested.

We drove to Bruges. We had a difficult time finding the campground in the book so we used the map with a camping sign and found Camping Memling. It was a bit steep at 45 euros for two nights, but had wireless internet and even a TV lounge. The bus to the centrum was a block away so the next day we went to town and got lost even with the guide book. The town was started as a trading center in the 9th century, and was very successful. Unfortunately, the channel to sea silted in the 16th century and the town declined. Consequently, most of the buildings are from the times of glory. The cathedral was beautiful, as well as the town square with its public buildings. I have never been so disoriented. The old town is laid out with winding canals and streets. Still it is remarkable with beautiful old buildings and churches. It even has Michelangelo’s Madonna and child in one church. We had lunch at a buffet. The style is not San Francisco, but it was good. We also bought the Belgian chocolate.

When the English king Henry VIII reformed the church and removed all things catholic, the religious orders that survived moved to other countries. One group of nuns moved to Bruges and set up a monastery. The mother superior was related to Thomas More who had been beheaded by Henry (Man for All Seasons). She had his remains buried in her chapel. Unfortunately, we could not find out how to get in so I could not pay respects to my hero

After touring Holland and Belgium I have some lasting impressions. Holland is a country of very athletic people. They bike everywhere. They are healthy because of this. The country roads are clean and signs are very clear. The houses are all “small”. People live in 500 square foot apartments. Holland has canals everywhere and water everywhere. They as a people are fantastic about their tulips. Which are grown everywhere and are absolutely gorgeous? I will always think of Holland when I see a bulb again. Belgium is a completely different mind picture for me. I feel like I have traveled back to the middle ages. There are enormous churches, castles, and keeps everywhere. Each town supports a large church built anywhere from the tenth century upward. The towns are lean and drab without the gardens of Holland. The roads are in bad repair. I think they have to spend most of their finances on these historic churches and the roads have little money for fixing. Both are beautiful in their own ways. Belgium north is more Flemish or Dutch and Belgium south is more French. The next lasting experience I will keep is Fantastic cheeses and chocolates. Belgian chocolate is suburb and all the cheeses so far have been addicting. The adage, “a bottle of wine, a loaf of bread and cheese” is really true here! A loaf of bread is a stick in England, a baguette in Belgium, and a panie in Holland, but everyone buys bread from a bakery every day!!

Most towns we visited had a “centrum” with spokes of a wheel for streets. This one (Bruges) truly meandered. The relics alone in this town are more than I’ve ever seen anywhere. Every corner is a true historical site. We visited Jerusalem Church that houses the Belgium lace history. The ladies were all in a room with a padded round wheel of cloth and board on their laps. Attached to the center were up to a hundred bobbins of thread which they wove into different patterns of lace. The oldest one had knarled hands and moved her hands so fast that the bobbins fairly flew. The knots are all pinned as they are completed so that you see a lace piece completely covered with pins. The patterns were so intricate I almost went blind trying to view them. An amazing talent. The lace is like an off shoot of macrame. I wonder if the sailors started it because of the knots.

The crowds of tourists make us think of this town like Disney Land. People wandering everywhere. People live, eat, and sleep in buildings of the16th century and earlier. All have lace curtains on their windows. I did not see the flowers at the doorsteps here that are so prevalent in Holland

Walked from 10AM until almost 5PM. My feet hurt!

On May 9 we left Bruges for Dunkirk and the ferry. We caught the 12:00 ferry to Dover. We were parked next to a British couple Rodney and Hazel, about my age. They had done a lot of sailing and caravanning. As we left the ferry, he broke his front bumper in a slight collision with a truck. We drove to the campground in Canterbury. We joined the camping and caravanning club on a three month special for foreigners the next morning we walked into town to visit the cathedral. The site has been active since St. Augustine started an abbey in 583. The Cathedral dates from before the 12th century when Thomas Becket was assassinated in the church. We had a nice lunch in a local pub, our first in England. We returned to the Cathedral to hear a Dutch boy’s choir that did not show, but we did have a chance to talk to a couple of volunteer wardens about the cathedral boy’s choir. They are boarded and go to a special school. If their voice breaks they continue in school, but are out of the choir. They also have to study two instruments as well as practice for the quire.

On May 11 we left Canterbury for Chipping Norton in the Cotswold’s. Along the way we stopped in the small village of Chilham. It has an ancient square and a church that dates to the 13th century. The prominent members of the community are buried inside. A list of the vicars since 1200 is posted on the wall. On the way to Chipping Norton we stopped at a freeway rest stop. They had KFC and Burger King along with many UK businesses. We stayed in the campground for two nights so we could visit Stratford-on-Avon, Shakespeare’s birth place. We watched a narrow (less than 7 feet beam) canal boat go through the lock, and talked to a couple on one of the boats. We returned to our campground by way of Stow-on-the-Wold and Norton-on-the-Marsh. The Cotswold towns are special with their yellow stone homes and walls.

The Cotswold stones are yellow tones, and the walls are waist-high with slate type stones parallel to the walls. These walls are around every field and plot. The rocks are made into the houses and barns, used in the churches and castles. Lots of rocks. The country towns are hilly and steep with one street above the next and the houses and stores hugging the hills. Traversing these city streets on the left side of the road is really a challenge. (It’s like taking switch backs through the city) The trees and bushes are in full bloom, and beautiful in all their hues.

May the 13th was mother’s day and we attended St. Mary’s church. The vicar was nice. He covers seven parishes with two assistants. The sacristy of the church is from the 13th century and new part is from the 15th. Afterward we had mother’s day lunch/dinner at a local pub with interesting conversations with the locals. It seems that the men go to the pub in the morning then must hurry home to Sunday dinner of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. We returned to the campground in the rain by way of Ascot-on-the-Avon and Buford.

On the 14th we left Chipping Norton for North Leach. There is a 13th century church. A woman was there to explain everything. It was defaced during the 16th century when the “craven” images of saints and all things roman were removed. We drove on through the Cotswold’s through Cheltenham where Christine Richards went to school. We took the scenic route to Stroud through beautiful houses and fields. We stopped in Bath, but did not go to the roman baths or into the Abbey as they want too much just to look at a hot spring where Romans soaked. We camped at Newton Mill Campground then on to California Cross Campground where we had a pub dinner. The road was one car wide between hedges. Fortunately, there were few cars. The next day we drove on toward lands end in Cornwall through drizzle and fog. We stayed at Semen Cove Campground, and drove to Land’s End the next morning. It was so foggy; we did not even get out of the car. That was a long drive for nothing. We then went the short distance to Penzance where the fog had lifted. We had the oil and filters changed for the van at a cost of 130 pounds. An oil change for $260? While we waited, we walked the pretty town, went to the library to check e-mail, and did laundry. We left and drove to Bodmin and a campground. Pensance was full of little shops selling everything. Some supermarkets like Morrison’s are near, and will threaten the small store, but nothing like Wal-Mart yet!

We stayed a second day in Bodmin to catch up on chores. While there we joined the Free Camping Program of the Camping and Caravanning club. It gives a list of campgrounds throughout Europe with vouchers for discounts in off-peak season. It also has a list of French free camping spots at farms and vineyards with a card for authorization.

We drove to Leek in the Midlands to a campground for the night. Leek was up in the area Wedgwood, Spode, and Stafford china country of Staffordshire. The sad part is that all the manufacturing is going on in China now and this is just a distribution center for the china. The camp was in a bower setting. It was the first camp since Canterbury that I really liked. The bower was all blooming with lupine, little pink ground cover and loads of trees. Very peaceful

On May 20 we are up in the lake district of northwest England, the home of Beatrice Potter and Henry Wordsworth. The climb up the hills to get to this valley was breathtaking. This is also a wonderful campground set in the sheep pastures with trees and gravel paths. Bunnies are big here in the memory of Beatrice Potter. Our walk yesterday on the foot path through the sheep fields was glorious. The little gates to separate the sheep and enclosed by traditional stone hedges. All precisely built and square or rectangle. We climbed over a hill and the valley of Steveley lay below about another mile straight down. Stopping at a beautiful garden around a 1700s stone house that used to be a huge barn, the owner said, “Oh it’s an easy walk with only a gradual slope.” Yea sure! Jack and I came back, had some home cooking, and went to the pub on the campsite here. The local beer was very good, and our conversation with Ian “the sailor” was very interesting. He sails for the charter on Lake Windermere, so today the 5/21/07 we will try to find his Windermere Princess on the dock. He took us on the boat ride for free. Beautiful lake and it would have cost us 28 pounds. So that night, after work, we spent an hour or two with the beer. Ian can drink two to my one.

On May 22 we left the campground and the Lake District for Hollyhead. We drove down M6 to M5 then took A55 across north Wales to Hollyhead where we made reservations for the ferry to Dublin for May 24. We drove to Llanystumdy campground.

This was a driving day. It took us 4 hrs to travel from the NY lake district to Holyhead and another 2 hours to Llanystumdy on Cardigan Bay off St. George’s Channel. We will stay here two days until ferry time to Dublin.

On May 23 we took the local bus a few miles to Cricclidth which is having a festival, and today was market day. We had fish and chips for lunch

Festival day at Cricclidth- ordinary stalls of clothes, jewelry, stuff mostly from China. The town hugs the ocean with a bay that guards the coast. There is a ruin of a castle perched on the Western bluff of the Bay. The streets curved up the hill from the bay so that each street had a peek of the approaching vessels and tides. This again is a very quaint village with flowers blooming in every nook and cranny. Brilliant purples, pinks, and blue hues creeping out of the rock walls. The day was mostly sunny, but started out with a question of rain. Jack and I had fish and chips with mushy peas at a little restaurant that catered to the “take away” in the traditional paper cones of old. The fish and chip place was serving since the 1700s. Again, a lot of history in this town. The next town over, “Caernatorn” has a castle where the Prince of Wales had his investiture. Good old Prince Charlie. (Poor guy, he will never make it with a mother who will out live him – Jack)

Camping llanystundy (pronounced “clan-ee-stun-dwee” is again another wonderful stop. The Caravan and Camping Club people manage these sites well. Friendly people, book trades, clean WCs and helpful staff. Each one has been a very nice stay with economic prices

. On May 24 we left the campground for the ferry at Holyhead. We did some shopping and sight seeing before boarding. On the ferry we talked to Mr. Gallagher who had been to London to buy a Citroen. He is a building contractor. He says it is cheaper to buy a car in England. When we left the ferry we found N7 through central Dublin at 6PM. A mad house. We lost N7 and ended up on N4. We wandered south and eventually stumbled on the campground at Carmac Valley to stay two days.

On May 25 we stayed in camp except for a trip to the local community for internet and to shop for groceries. We were surprised at the number of black people in the market. Ireland never had colonies or slavery so did not bring blacks in. We guess that the good economy since joining the European Union has created jobs that attract workers. On the next day we drove through the midlands to Lough Enuell near Mullingar. There is a lake that is famous for trout fishing. We walked the woodland trail which was beautiful with ivy climbing up the trees. Sandy cooked a roast; it was a pleasant day of rest. On Sunday the 27th we attended mass at the cathedral then drove to Anthone for a Sunday drive. On the next day we drove to Balley Shannon near Donegal. We bought enough wool for two sweaters, and, then it was on to the fishing village of Killybegs for lunch. Sandy said that it was the best fish chowder she had ever had. We moved on to Dungloe campground for the evening. The town was close so we walked the streets of the small town. The next morning we went to the supermarket then headed north. We drove around a peninsula by accident. We were uncertain of the directions, so I suggested that Sandy follow the traffic. It went great until the string of cars stopped at a cemetery. We continued on past a second cemetery to quite a ways up the peninsula. The number of new houses was a surprise. The land is very rocky with white stones surrounded by green grass closely cropped by the sheep. It is very beautiful. We returned past the grave yards to the main road and on to the Donegal airport. It has but two flights a day, but there were over 20 cars in the parking lot. Just beyond the airport there is a mile long beach, mostly deserted. The sand is fine and Sandy did find a few shells. We talked to a young woman with two children. We asked her where all the people with the rather new houses worked. She said they drive to Litterkenny which is about 20 miles away. She was born there and she said that things were tough for her grandparents before the improved economy. Her Granny had to pick muscles off the rocks for dinner. We saw a few old houses in ruin. Apparently a family would live in 200 square feet.

We drove through the Glenleach national park. It was different from the ocean side. There was heather instead of the rocky hillsides. There were a number of peat bogs that had not been worked for some time. The park people are trying to preserve the bogs. Most people use kerosene for heating now, although we did see a few bogs with peat drying. We eventually got to Portsalan and the Knockalla Holiday center where we camped.

On May 31 we drove to Ulster province and Bushmills. After arraigning for a camping space we walked to the Old Bush mills Distillery for the tour and tasting. They age for different times in various used oak barrels. The common stuff is aged five years in used bourbon barrels they get from Kentucky. The longer aged stuff is aged in used wine barrels. The barrels are used for three batches the sold as planter boxes. It is claimed that the color and flavor of the aged whiskey is influenced by the prior use of the barrels. We continue to be impressed by the number of prosperous homes in this rather remote part of Ireland. We were surprised that the village of Bush mills was not prosperous looking. There were many run down store fronts and some empty. The next day we drove a few miles to visit the Giant’s Causeway that rises from the sea in this most northern part of the Irish island. It is composed of hexagonal basalt columns resulting from volcanic activity 60 million years ago. The cliffs above are fantastic. It is a beautiful place. We then drove a few miles along the coast to the ruins of Dunluce castle. It was built in the 1600s when the English kings gave their lords lands in Ireland. There may have been an early Irish fort there. Afterward we drove back to the Bushmills campground.

On June 2 we drove from Bushmills to Cong. It was a nice campground, but they had a problem with their water that had to be boiled. We chose to move on further into Conamara. Very close to the Cong campground is as mega hotel that is based on an old (13th century) castle. It has a championship golf course. Presidents and other important people have stayed here. We took some pictures and left. In the nearby town we visited an abbey that had started in the 8th century and was damaged by the Normans in the 12th, the British in the 16th and Cromwell in the 17th. The ruin is a sort of park and contains some 20th century graves. There is a modern catholic church next door. We talked to the pastor about many things. Ireland exported priests for over a hundred years, but now he says they have some Philippean priests. He was interesting and suggested we visit a sheep shearing contest in Clonbur, a nearby town. The town of Cong prides itself on being the location for the Quiet Man movie. We went to the shearing contest and had a ball. We watched the “international championships” for awhile and then visited the rest of the grounds which were like a fair with rides and booths. A couple of men were demonstrating old-time life. Sandy got involved twisting rope out of hay fibers, tending a peat fire and had her picture taken with the two men. We also watched the sheep dog trials. A young part-time sheep farmer and his wife talked to us about farming. He says that wool sells for 0.60 Euro a kilo so sheep farming is not profitable. We got the impression he does it to keep up his mother’s farm. He says he shears his own sheep. His wife had bought him shearing shoes that day. He also has two dogs that aren’t good enough for the trials by any means. The dogs following whistles from the shepherd have to run 200 meters to collect four sheep. Then drive them through an obstacle course, bunch them and hold them for some time, then drive them into a 3x3 pen. They are great to watch. We drove to Cliffden on the south coast of Canamara with a stop at a pub for a couple of half pints. The place was full of men except for Sandy and a couple of other women who looked like tourists. Most of the men were drunk at 5 PM on Sunday. We stayed at Shanaheever campsite and Caravan Park. The nice lady loaned us a map for our trip around the peninsula the next day.

On June 4 we drove around the Canamara peninsula. There are lots of rocks similar to Donegal. There are also a lot of ruined, old, stone houses. There are quite a few new houses, but not quite as many as Donegal. The scenery is beautiful with many bays; one of them more like a fiord. We stopped in Literfrack to eat lunch in a roadside park by the water. We then visited the Conamara national park. The TV presentation was good It talked about the history of the use of peet. The pitch was that it damaged the ecology of the bogs. The history of the geology of the area covered the effect of 5000 years of human activity and how it had changed the landscape particularly the bogs. We took a walk up the hill on a nature trail. The park is mostly around 700 meter mountains. We drove to West Port where we had hamburgers and beer in a local pub. We also did some grocery shopping. Because of our small storage and refrigerator we have to shop often. The drive back to the campground was longer than it seemed. When we got back, a couple with a camper like ours, but quite new had parked next to us. They are Bernard and Patricia from Devon in the UK. We had a pleasant visit with them. We stayed in the campground the next day to do chores. We had to buy water. Although their water is safe, it has so much tannin that it is brown.

On June 6 we drove through Galway and the Burren to Dulin to camp for two days. It is on the coast and has ferries that go out to the Ennis Islands one of which is quite close. It is also near the Cliffs of Mohr. The next day we drove north along the coast Lisdonvarna where we had stopped to do internet the day before. The man and woman were very nice to us. We returned to Dulin by another route through the Burren. We saw an ancient dirt ring fort, and stopped to visit megalithic tomb called a cairn. They are of huge flat stones with two or four vertical and a big top stone. That night we went to a music pub in Dulin. The traditional Irish music is kind of repetitive and meant mostly for dancing the traditional jig. It was so noisy with the place packed with most standing and I could not hear the music. At least we now have visited a music pub.

On 6/8 we drove to visit the Cliffs of Mohr. The weather was overcast as it has been since we came to Ireland, so the cliffs were not as spectacular as they could be. We then drove south to cross the River Shannon on a ferry and drive on to Foynes where Fred Jones lives. Fred and Evelyn used to live part time in Hudson and were members of the Hudson Beach Yacht Club. We really liked them. Evelyn had breast cancer and died about two months before our visit. We were heading for a campground intending to call Fred after we were settled. When we stopped in a lay-by to let cars pass a little car tore up and stopped in front of us. Out popped Fred who said he was talking to a neighbor and saw us pass. He invited us to his home and to sleep in our camper in his drive that night. He is still mourning Evelyn, but he told us how they had remodeled the cottage to make it more livable. Actually they had it rebuilt. It is small, but very cozy. That night we took Fred to dinner at a nearby restaurant.

The next day was my 81st birthday so we drove to New Castle West to buy groceries, and in the evening went with Fred to his neighborhood pub. Fred is not too well acquainted as Evelyn had been too sick to go out for about two years. But the folks, particularly the proprietor and his wife, were very nice. Fred told them it was my birthday so the musician played happy birthday and we had to dance. It was a pleasant evening with nice folks.

On June 10th we went to Shannon airport to pick up Mark. Fred insisted we come to his place, so we did. Mark got to talk to Fred and look around the place. That night Fred, Mark and I returned to the pub. Sandy took the night off. The folks were friendly again, and Mark seemed to fit in. We had had quite few pints before we staggered back to Fred’s. Mark slept on Fred’s day bed. The next day Fred fixed breakfast including Irish soda bread he baked that morning. Then we said goodbye to Fred and his little dog Minni, and drove a few miles to the flying boat museum. In 1939 and 40 Pan Am started a flying boat service from New York to Shannon as the first regularly scheduled transatlantic service. They have a great museum with a faithful replica of one of the planes. The museum includes a story about the invention of Irish coffee to warm the passengers who had to be boated to shore. It included how Stanton Deleplane of the SF Cronicle took the idea back to San Francisco and the Buena Vista. We then drove to Blarney to a campground with Mark at a nearby B&B. We did not visit the castle.

On June 12 we drove down the coast to Kinsal where we stopped at a farmers market to buy farm produced cheese and sausage. Mark treated us to lunch. We drove to the west along the coast to Shibbereen to a campground with Mark at the nearby B&B again. The next day we drove through the mountain through Bantry to Killarny and the Fleck hotel and campground. We listened to music that night. The next day we drove the dingle peninsula stopping in Dingle. We visited the Desmond castle that has been a lord’s castle, a custom house, prison, and now is a wine museum as this was the port where wine was brought to Ireland from the Continent. American sailors captured during the Revolutionary War were kept there. We camped at Campbell Teach on Aagaill with Mark at a nearby hotel as usual. The next day we drove north to cross the Shannon by ferry and on to Doolin. We stopped at the Cliffs of Mohr for Mark to see it. Not too good in the drizzle. We camped in the same campground of the week before. We also went to O’cconor’s pub for music. The next day we drove Mark up into the Burren to see some of the things we had seen a week before. We did visit a cave that Sandy and I had skipped. We also visited a castle keep that has been restored by the Oday family of Minnesota who are descendants of the Odae who originally built it. It is well restored and presented a good video about the castle and the history of it and the surrounding area.. We had lunch in Ennis and then drove to Shannon where we spent the night in a hotel so Mark could have a quick start the next day which he did.

Mark is my 56 year old son who is retired from the San Jose Fire Department, and is now a fire investigator for insurance companies. He is single and has visited with us a number of times including La Paz Mexico and Savannah when we were on our boats. He is easy going and fun to be with. This trip he would not let us pay for anything. That is quite a pay back for a few piggy back rides. He seemed to enjoy our lifestyle. There is not room for three in the van so he had to stay in B&Bs. He did enjoy our happy hours before dinner. If we went out, he paid, otherwise Sandy cooked in the Camper. I don’t know why I have two such great sons.

When Mark entered the checkpoint we, left for Waterford that is southeast from Shannon. We stayed in a nice campground at Tramore that is on the coast a few miles west of Waterford. We spent a day of rest in the campground. We walked through a park to the coast where there were interesting coves including a diving board on a rock above one of the coves. There was a sign that said men only. Below it there was a sign that said the men only sign was 60 years old and was left as a sign of those times.

6/18-6/20. Stayed in Tramore & visited Waterford Crystal Factory. They still hand blow glass and hand cut it. Good tour. Didn’t buy any.

On June 20 we drove into Dublin and through the downtown traffic jam to the port. We slept in the van in the long term parking. The next day, the 21st, we left the old sod on the ferry for Holyhead. It was a two hour ride on mild seas. From the ferry we drove through Snodownia National Park. The mountain is the highest in the UK. We drove through a beautiful glacial valley with cataracts tumbling down the mountain sides on both sides, and into a lake. It was very impressive. We stopped in Betws y Coed which is a beautiful tourist town. The woman in the information center was very helpful with advice of where to go. (Jack fell in love again) We had lunch and a half pint in the pub and drove on through beauty to the campground at Bala. It rained a lot. Our trip to the British Isles has been during the rainiest June in history. We have had fun, but would have appreciated better weather. The campground was affiliated with the Camping and Caravanning club. All of their sites have been well built and maintained. Also, the fees are reasonable.

On June 22 we went to Beddslert where we intended to camp at another National Park campground. The town was very pretty with stone houses with many flowers in window baskets. There was a stone bridge over a stream that added to the effect of the stone houses. But it was raining too much and we thought it might be better a distance from the mountains so we drove on through great scenery in winding river valleys to Portmadog. We talked to John the harbor master. The river is navigable at high tide clear to the ocean. They have many sailboat regattas, some world champions. We had lunch in a pub and drove on down the coast to Cardigan campground.

The next day we drove to the Monmouth and Graceland campground in the Forest of Dean in the Wye river valley. We enjoyed a nice, wet walk through the forest and enjoyed talking to a recently retired couple from Birmingham, and living nearby. They said the steel mills are all closed and Birmingham is in trouble. New Castle has the same problem as the coal mines are closed after centuries. Now they actually take coals to New Castle.

We left the campground because it was too wet and drove to Salisbury. We camped just below the Sarum. The next day we walked to Salisbury and toured the town and its cathedral. The history of the cathedral begins in Sarum. It is a hill about a mile north of town. Thousands of years ago the people built a dirt fort on top of the hill with a large ditch for protection. When the Romans conquered England in the first century they put a fort there and the Roman roads kind of crossed there. When the Normans conquered England in the 11th century they built a fort, castle and cathedral inside the ring which they improved. In 1220s the Bishop moved the Cathedral to the river bank below and built a new cathedral. The castle remained and was used and modified by English kings until Henry VIII gave it a noble in the 16th century. During the 13th century King Henry II imprisoned his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine there for 16 years because she plotted with her sons Richard and John to take his thrown. (See Katharine Hepburn in Lion in winter) The Bishop had the new cathedral built on his land and developed a market town to provide the business that would provide the funds to build the new cathedral. It was completed in 38 years so it is of one architectural style which is unusual in Europe where it took so long to complete churches that the styles changed in mid build. A spire, the highest in England, was added the next century with some interesting modifications to the support to handle the extra weight. We were guided through the place by a nice volunteer who added a great deal of color. After a pizza hut dinner we returned to the cathedral for evensong. This is a religious ceremony of prayer and readings with a boy’s quire. The boys attend a boarding school as the ones in Canterbury do. There now is an alternate girl’s quire. In both cases there are six adult males included. The singing was very memorable. Part of the cathedral tour was the Charter House which was where the clergy met with the Bishop. It is a remarkable building. A copy of the Magna Carta, one of four original remaining, is on display. It is written in Medieval Latin so we can’t read it, but it is impressive to see one of the major documents in the development of modern democracy. From a translation if learned that there are two articles that define responsibilities to debts to Jews. It was written in the mid 13th century when John II was king.

The next day we walked up to Sarum and saw where they had excavated enough to see the size and shape of the original cathedral and the castle. The explanations on the signs were very helpful.

On June 28 we drove north to Avesbury. We had driven past Stone Hedge which is crowded and you are kept away from the stones. So we decided to visit another 3500 year old stone circle at Avesbury that is 500 years older. Most of the stones were buried because the church didn’t want pagan monuments. In the 18th and 19th centuries many were dug up and returned to their place. Many stones are missing as they were broken up to build houses and walls. The complex is enclosed in a ring fort or ditch that is 1.5 km in diameter. Some of the stones are 5 meters high and setting on edge. There seems to be some fertility issues in the building as there are tall stones symbolizing the male and diamond shaped ones symbolizing the female. These were not carved, but selected for their shape. The stones weigh up to 30 tons and were apparently dragged many miles to the site. There is also a double line of stones leading from a km away that must have been an avenue that the religious processions used. Many of the stones are missing, but the archeologists have placed cement marker pillars to indicate their position.

Nearby there is conical burial mound of a very symmetrical cone shape. It is probably 75 feet high and has been dated by radio carbon to be 5000 years old. It is estimated that it took millions of man hours to build it. Just imagine a laborer filling a reed basket with the chalk ground and hauling it up to dump it for his whole lifetime. They have tunneled, but have failed to find a burial chamber. Some bones were found however and so the dating.

We then drove to Portsmouth to the British Naval Yard. Nelson’s flag ship Victory is on display as well as the Warrior which seems to be a 1860s steam/sail ship. After a brief visit, we drove to the campground at Chirchester. On the 29th we drove to Canterbury where we would stay until we left England. While there we both visited doctors. Sandy is having hip trouble, and I needed a prescription for my acid reflux. I was able to get a 6 month supply so I won’t have to talk to the French physicians. On one of my trips to town I listened to a student band doing big band music. They were traveling from Baden-Baden Germany. There were over 30 musicians and the arrangements were very good. You get lucky sometimes.

On July 4th we left Britain. I had arranged it when we got our round trip ferry tickets in May. I thought it was an appropriate day. Our visit to the UK and Ireland was great, it is sad that the weather was so very bad. On arrival at Dunkirk we drove to a campground at Shoveled. We tried our first French free camp at a farm/mobile home. We were well received, but were surprised that there weren’t other campers. We had dinner in their restaurant. The owner’s mother runs the restaurant and cooks. The son is Francois and he sells motor homes as well as owning a number of mobile home parks. The food was good and the conversation with the mother/cook was fun, but it was too expensive at 50 euros. The woman at the desk spoke English, she was from St. Martine in the Caribbean and was very nice.

The next day we drove a long way on the toll road to Bayeux. The toll was 30 euros for about 200 km. We will try to avoid those in the future. We were at a municipal campground which is good and reasonable at 15 euros a day in the high season when prices are usually high. On the next day we walked into the center of Bayeux. The tapestry museum was great. The tapestry was crocheted shortly after the Norman invasion of England. It tells the story of the lead-up and the invasion. Apparently, the King of England designated his nephew William as his successor. The king sent Edward to Normandy to inform William that he was to be king, but when Edward returned to England he found that the King died Edward took the throne. William put together an army and invaded, killing Edward and becoming the king of England. It turns out that the Edward and William were Normans. The rulers of England were all descendants of Vikings long before 1066.

It was a great day and we enjoyed walking the old central city. They were to have a medieval festival on the next two days, so we returned on Saturday to partake. It was mostly a street market with booths selling some very good art and jewelry, and toy weapons and clothing. We had lunch, but did not attend the programs such as mock tournaments. It was a nice day.

On Sunday July 8 we drove to the Normandy Beaches where the D-day landings occurred on June 6 1944. We drove through a couple of towns and walked the beach and cliffs. Then we visited the American cemetery where over 9000 are buried. There is also a wall that lists all of the missing and unidentified soldiers. It was interesting to me that very few of the names were from the Western States. It must have been that people were sent to war in the ocean closest to home, or something.

We saw the port of Bessing on the Normandy coast. Boats were in the closed in harbor with a lock gate. Outside the lock boats were all in the mud. The town had a Sunday market with lots of fish for sale. I tried to buy mussels and thought better, because it would take all day before I could cook them. I bought a lady’s homemade rhubarb jam.

The next day we stayed in the campground because it rained. We did get some laundry done during the breaks, as well as a little shopping. Then on the tenth we drove to Mount St. Michel. It is an island with a monastery on top and a causeway for access. We were allowed to park overnight for the usual 8.50 fee. We walked the causeway to the Mount. This place, along with the Eifel Tower and the Golden Gate Bridge, is one of the most photographed spots. We paid for an English speaking guided tour, but could never find it so we self guided. The place is like a rabbit warren due to the peak of the island that it is built upon. It has been an Abby, a prison, abandoned, and is now an Abby again. Although with so many tourists, I could not see where there was room for monks. There was am interesting wheel like a water wheel of about 15 foot diameter and a few feet wide. Apparently, it was used like a windlass to haul supplies to the top of the mountain. It was propelled by men walking inside as in a squirrel cadge. The Abby had walls as a fort, and it is supposed to be the only spot in France that the English did not conquer during the 100 years war. The lower levels or pathways are shops and hotels. The crowds were unbelievable we could hardly move. It was a week day. What could it be like on a weekend? It was tiring with all the climbing, but a great experience.

The next day we decided that we should see Paris, so we drove in that direction. We stopped in a mid-sized town of Chartres about 60 km from the City. There was a nice municipal campground. The next day, the 12th we drove the 3.5 km into town. We bought a train ticket for Paris the next day then walked the town. The volunteer cathedral guide was good. It was built in the 12th century, and was damaged by fire in 1194. They were able to save three stain glass windows that are still there. The new cathedral was completed in 25 years so it is architecturally uniform. There are many stain glass windows in addition to the very old ones. Most depict the bible stories. They were apparently used to teach the illiterate peasants. The windows were removed during WWI and II so they were not damaged. We walked the old town down by the river. We talked to Paul, an English speaking French man, who asked whether he could help us when he saw us studying the city map. He was an interesting middle-aged man whose mother was from Baltimore.

The next day we took the train to Paris. It was a mistake in that it was Friday, the day before Bastille Day, and apparently a national three day holiday. The crowds were enormous. We bought a day pass on the Metro. Our first stop was the Eifel Tower. The ticket lines for the elevators were so long that we had to forgo that major tourist activity. We took as open air bus tour that we could get on and off at any place and good for three days. It covered most of the famous parts of the City. There was an English commentary on ear phones so we had a good view. We got off in the Trocadero area to have lunch at a sidewalk café. We had French onion soup, salad and wine. It was good, but expensive as everything is in Paris. We took the metro to the area below Montmartre then the funicular to the top. We walked around the square and looked at all the artists and their art. We looked at the city from the hill, and decided we were tired so we went down to the metro. We had to kill two hours at the train station. We had two cokes for seven euros or over ten dollars. The train took two tired tourists back to Chartres. Paris is certainly a most beautiful city, but our visit was not worth the cost. We confirmed that this trip is about the country, not the large cities.

After a day for rest at Chartres, we left for the Loire Valley. We stopped at the Chambord Chateau. It is a large castle-like building that was started by Francis I in 1517 as a royal hunting lodge. The basic structure was completed by his death in 1547. A few modifications have been made through the years by various monarchs and other royalty who had owned it. In 1930 it was bought by the French government. We took an interesting tour with mobile recording devices. At various points there were numbered signs. You entered the number and the recording explained that area or room. They even had a key to receive more detail. We drove through Cheverny to a vineyard at Oisly where we could camp for free.

The Camping and Caravanning club has a program called France Passion. They have signed up a thousand or so farms, vineyards and wineries that will allow you to free camp for one night. Of course, they want to sell you something. The one near Dunkirk had a restaurant. Of course, the wineries want to sell wine. In the next week we were to visit three of them. The first was the one at Oily in the Loire Valley. This area is not very hilly, but the vineyards are generally very well kept. This one was very picturesque with a vine covered tasting room. The landscaping was very well done with well maintained shrubs and many flowers. The lady who greeted us let us taste some wines which were very good and we bought a couple of bottles for five euros each. A good wine for a reasonable price. Driving through the vineyards was great as they keep them closely trimmed and they look like gardens. There was one town on a hill that was like from a picture book. We stayed in a campground in Baune for a couple of days to rest. We bought wine at a cave. It is actually a winery that has its vineyards outside of town. Domaine Besancenot it is in the Bougogne region.

The beaugalaes region is about 150 km east of Oisly. We took the back roads through the little villages. The region is reasonably prosperous as the houses are of stone and well kept. There are window boxes with bright flowers everywhere. The little village squares are filled with flower boxes also. The vineyards in this region are in the hills along the Saone River. We drove a narrow road to Blace, and a narrower one way track to Domaine des Maisons Nueves on a hilltop overlooking the river valley. There were a house, winery building and a commissary building for the pickers. All were built of yellow stone, and although they were in need of tidying up, the place was picturesque. We met Francois Gringnon, the vintner, who had us to taste his wine. He had one Chardonnay, and two reds. The 2006 was better than the 2005. He said the later had been a poor year with low yields, and the 2005 wine should be aged. The Chardonnay was as good as any I have tasted before. We also met Francois’ wife and 9 month old daughter. The property has been in her family for six generations. Francois came to pick grapes some years ago and picked the daughter also. He explained the processing in some detail. They ferment the grapes on the skins for two days or so and then press the juice. The juice is transferred to big oak barrels for more fermentation and aged in those barrels until bottled. They bottle at about six months, at least for the Chardonney. We parked and slept on the flat behind the winery on a hill with a great view. Francois said it was going to storm and offered us the use of the dormitory that is for the pickers. We declined, but it did storm. There was a lot of lightening and hail of a out a quarter inch diameter.

Francois showed us how to get to a winery in St Paule. The drive was spectacular. The road wound through the hills past farms and even a chateau. There were two villages with churches and little squares. There were flowers everywhere. We found a winery that we did not stay at. It was owned by the vintner and he had access to seven acres of grapes. Mostly gamay grapes and his best wine was a Rose. We bought three bottles for four euros each. It was Domaine des Fonterouilles belonging to Jean-Roland Pradel.

We decided to drive from there to Geneva. We took the freeway and it was quite a climb. The engine got somewhat warm, and we stopped at a service station to rest. The red light came on for oil pressure. There was plenty of oil. We asked the woman at the service station to get us a mechanic. He came by and checked the car. He had another car on his truck so he said he would come back to get us. He took us to his garage in Natua where he determined that the problem was the oil pump. He tightened the drive belt and we could drive. He said there was a VW dealer nine km down the hill. It was Friday and we needed a campground. That was two km down the hill. We checked in and spent the weekend on a beautiful lake shore. The lake had been scoured out by an ice age glacier in a deep canyon. On Monday we drove down to the VW dealer and he did not want to deal with us. He sent us to his other dealership in Bourg-en-Bresse. They did not want to deal with us either. We decided to order the part from Donna Turner who sold us the van. She found an oil pump and mailed it to us. We had to wait for five days in a nice campground in walking distance from town with grocery stores near by.

On August the first the pump came, and it did not look like the pump that the original mechanic said was the oil pump. What to do? We decided that the French could not help us so we decided to take a chance and drive to Freiburg Germany which was 350 km away. We drove at max 90 km/hr and made it to a nice campground near town with people who spoke English and were helpful. The next day they made an appointment with the mechanic. He looked at the car and said that what we had was an oil pump that was inside the engine. The pump the Natua mechanic thought was bad was actually the water pump. Also, there was nothing wrong with the water pump. I do not know why the red light came on. That had caused us all that trouble. That and having to deal with Frenchmen. We had the oil and filters changed as well as new belts as when the problem started we had a lot of smoke, and the belts may have gotten too hot.

So we are out almost a thousand dollars for no good reason, but we seem to have an ok car. We visited the town of Freiburg which has another cathedral from the 11th century. We had to buy a new power cord as the old one seems to have a bad spot. Also, we had used up our propane.

On August 3 we left Freiburg to drive through the Black Forest. The countryside is beautiful with forested mountains with the dark green contrasting with the lighter green of the pastures. Many of the houses were of the chalet style with balconies under the front gable that were full of colorful flowers. We walked a ways down the side of a lovely cascade that they refer to as the highest waterfall in Germany. We stopped in a little town called St. Peters. It has a monastery and church on a hill. The inside of the church is very elaborate. The walls are freshly painted white with many paintings on the walls and on the ceiling. The statues are also white with much gold adornment. Sandy’s idea of this is guilding the lilly. Most European churches are very dark with unpainted native stone. We also visited a clock museum in Furtwangen. The area is famous for the development of the coo-coo clock with elaborately carved houses and figures. The museum covered the entire development of timepieces. We also stopped at a cultural museum, Firelichtmus Voghts Bauernhof, with 16th and 19th century country houses showing the way of life in the Black Forest of the periods. The houses were moved in and had actual histories of their occupation. That night’s campground was along a river that gave campers complimentary bottles of the local brew. Alpirsbach is the name of the town and campsite.

The next day we drove to Heidelberg. We took a wrong turn and ended up in the entrance of the American Army Base. The guards seemed upset because we did not have passes to enter. They had to stop traffic while we turned around. This is the base where Tom and Jane Sperry were stationed in the 50’s. We eventually found the Heidelberg campground that is on the Neckar River about four km from town. We took the bus into town the next day. The town was not too badly damaged during WWII so many of the old lanes and buildings still exist. There is a castle (Schlos) above town and on the side of an 1100 foot mountain. We took the Funicular to visit the three stops. From the top we could see miles over flat land extending from the mountains into the north. It was Sunday and we visited the Jesuit church which was much like St. Peters with white walls and gilded statues and paintings on the walls and ceilings.

On the sixth of August we left Heidelberg and drove along the Neckar River with its barges. It is called the Castle Road. There are a number of ruined and some presently occupied castles or large manor houses. We left the Neckar at Mosbach to go toward Wurzburg, the beginning of the Romantic Road which connects a number of old walled towns. We did not go into Wurzburg, but joined it at Tauberbischofsheim, a small town with a very old wall. We walked the small walled town of Rottengen with a number of well maintained half timbered old houses with flower boxes and one with a well cared for front yards. We drove on to the major town on the Romantisch Strasse, Rothenberg. It is on a hill a mile or so above the campground, Campingplatz Tauberromantick The next day we waited an hour for the bus and gave up to spend the day relaxing and walking around the area and the little village of Detwang on the Tauber River. The next day it was raining again so we burned another day washing clothes etc. On the ninth it was raining still, but we drove into Rottenburg. It is from the 11th century, and with a population of 6000 was the tenth largest city in the Holy Roman Empire. The whole town is well maintained and the walls with fancy gates are very impressive. We also stopped at the Lidl grocery store. A young man passed us wearing a Hollister sweat shirt. We asked him if he had ever been there and he said yes, he has a relation in Saratoga. While talking with him a woman said she had lived in Saratoga while she was at Santa Clara University. She was a chemistry graduate from 1991. Her husband is in the military in Spain and they were on a camping vacation with their four children. I take it he is also a Santa Claran. Their name is Fischer. We had a German dinner, and returned to the campground for the night.

On the tenth we drove further in the rain with a stop to drive through Feuchtwagen which was nice, but not special. We did park in Dinkelbuhl. It is another walled city with some good looking old buildings. The wall is in good repair, and has a lot of towers with some residences built into it. The church has many alters dedicated to locals. We camped nearby at Camping Park Romantisch Strasse.

We left Dinkelbuhl and drove to Nordlingden, another walled town, where we enjoyed a Saturday market and did some e-mail at the local library. We then drove to Fussen by a long round about way due to road repair. The back roads are not well signed and we took many a wrong turn. The countryside is rolling farm land with small villages every two km, and none on our map. In Fussen we found a gravel campground that caters to travelers. That is it has a small toilet block, a restaurant, and very tight spaces. The town is very popular due to its two castles and a big lake. The next day we put a chair in our parking space to reserve it and drove to Schwangan where they have a funicular that takes one 990 meters up the mountain. This is our first good look at the Alps. At least on the north the mountains are very steep and almost pure granite. That is kind of like the back side of the Sierras except that they are sharper as if they are not as old. We walked a barely usable trail along a narrow ridge trying to get a good view of the castles, which we did not. We also walked around a bit to get different views. It is a beautiful place. They were having a race up the hill with the winner doing the 990 meters in 42 minutes. When we got to the bottom we drove a short distance to the resort area that controls the two castles. We wanted to visit the Newschwangen Castle which is probably the most photographed castle of all as it is more a fancy home than a defendable castle. The family castle is a mile or so away. Anyway, it was the weekend and the ticket line was hours long so we skipped it, and returned to the campground. On the way back we stopped at a local craft fair. The things were very good with jewelry and objects de art. It was a beautiful day with plenty of sun for a change.

The next morning it had rained so we stayed until it cleared. We walked the 1.5 km into Fussen. It too is a partially walled city with a sort of castle on the hill. It seems that the bishop wanted to build a castle fort based on an old castle that started in the 3rd or 4th century, but the church did not allow it. We got the impression that it would have given the bishop too much power. The attached church is another with white insides and murals or frescos on the ceiling and sides. We had lunch of soup in a bread bowl, and a blooming onion “from the USA”. Of course with a local beer. Then we returned to the campground. On the way we stopped at Lidl again. It is a discount grocery/everything store. They exist all over Europe. Their prices are low, although not top brands. The wine is unbelievable. You can get a bottle for less than two euros that we think is fine. One Italian 750ml in a plastic bottle is sold for 1.29 E, and it is just fine. The same thing in Chardonnay is good also. I am becoming an alcoholic. Their rum and vodka are also about half the price of anywhere else.

On August 14 we left Germany for Austria. We stopped at Panorama Camping Stadblick in Salzburg. The next day we rode the bus into the town that is the birthplace of Mozart. It has the usual citadel on the hill and the cathedral. We walked around the pretty town and visited the cathedral. The place is interesting, but the architecture is not as quaint as we have seen in the last few cities. The buildings seem more modern and better built. The stores have more up-scale merchandise. It does not look like an old city as Fussen does.

On the 16th we drove to Melk. We selected this as it is part way to Vienna and we wanted to see a smaller town along the way. We drove the Autobahn as far as Lintz because it is easier in hilly country so others can easily pass us when this gutless wonder crawls up. They put barriers along the freeway so frequently one can not see the countryside. We did stop to look at a lake, Mobesee that is backed by the granite Alps and is one of the locations used for the Sound of Music film. At Lintz the Audubon has moved into the rolling farm lands of the foot hills so we switched to the local roads. The small towns are more modern than in Germany. The road ran along the Danube (Donau) through a canyon with occasional castles. There was even a Romantisch Strasse sign. There were barges moving up and down. The drive was very enjoyable. We stopped at Camping Melk which is on the river. There are a number of hundred foot tour barges tied to the dock as it is one of the destinations.

On August 17 we walked the km into the town. We had selected the town because of its campground, but found that it is one of the most interesting towns we have visited. First, it is not as new looking as Salzburg, therefore more picturesque. The main attraction is the abbey on the hill. As usual it is the site of a Roman fort that became a secondary residence of the Royalty during the period of the Holy Roman Empire and the Babenberg family. There were churches there and one of the Kings gave the church a relic that is believed to be a splinter of the cross of Christ. It is now in a cross. In 1089 the facility was give to the Benedictine monks who still control it. After many trials and disasters related to political and religious struggles as well as miss management in 1700 a super abbot began the construction of the present church and abbey. The result is remarkable. The whole place has been converted to a museum with the proceeds supporting it. The original grant included lands that they farm and lumber. The thirty monks run a secondary school for 900 students as well as service 23 neighboring parishes. The church is done in the baroque style with lots of frescos, gold and marble. It is the most elaborate of all the churches we have seen. As Sandy says, “It was jaw-dropping gorgeous.” A couple of the side alters are the tombs of saints. The front is glass and the skeleton is clearly there. He is laying there in his jeweled clothing with his head resting on his arm looking out at the comedy of people passing. Sandy thinks of him saying, “The jokes on you guys.” The library is large with two story walls of old books. They are also are Collecting the works of outstanding scientists and writers as part of a program to preserve important work. So we walked back to the campground restaurant for beer and frits. On August 18 we moved down the Danube to Camping Donau Klostenburg near the town of the same name. The trip was mostly through small towns that had old narrow roadways without room for two cars. The first half of the trip was through a river canyon, then the land opened up into a broad plane. The town was in some hills, however. We walked the rather small town and bought some caulk and caulking to patch the leak around the top vent on the van.

The next day we visited Viena (Wein) by bus and metro. We got on the wrong direction train and had to ride all the way around the city, No problemo. We walked through the pretty buildings to St. Stephens’s cathedral, but did not enter. We did e-mail at an internet café and had lunch of hamburgers at a sidewalk café. Then we walked past many monuments and pretty buildings. There is a mixture of styles and dates to the buildings. An 18th century building can be next to a modern glass structure. The Imperial Palace is very ornate. The Hapsburgs ruled much of Europe by conquest and marriage for over 600 years from this hovel in Vienna. Much of the building seems to have been due to Franz Joseph with an enormous statue of him in front of the magnificent complex. The impression is one of elaborate architecture of many styles and statues and monuments everywhere. There are many young people in period costume hawking concert tickets. We did not want to stay until evening so did not buy. It was a great, but tiring day.

The next day we went to Hungary. We had to change money at the border because Hungary is a member of the European Union, but it will be a few years before they get into the economic union. We bought a vignette which replaces the toll on the freeways. But we drove the small road down the Danube for the most part. We stopped at a very nice campground (Eden) where we were parked on the bank of a side channel of the river. The campground is owned by a Dutchman, and caters to Netherlanders. Naturally the personnel speak good English, and the place is very clean and orderly. We stayed three days and one day we drove around the area to visit some small to midsized towns. In Tata, which is pretty modern, there is the largest Tesco supermarket we have seen. Kind of like a Wal-Mart.

On August 23 we drove down the Danube to the north edge of Budapest and camped at Romai Campground. It is expensive and not nearly as nice as Eden, but adequate. The name derives from a nearby roman ruin. The next day we took the bus to Budapest. We walked around Buda searching for the tour bus until we realized we had to cross the Danube to Pest to get to the tour bus office. When we saw the first bus it said tours of Buda and Pest. Slow thinking Jack then realized the meaning of the name. It is two cities, the imperial city of Buda with the castle and palace on the hill on the west side of the Danube, and the more modern city of Pest where the parliament and basilica are located on the east bank. There is a large statue of a woman on a hill in Buda overlooking the river that was erected after WWII during the Russian occupation. There is a much larger complex in Pest that is centered on an obelisk with the angel Gabriel at the top. This has a half circle of statues of the leading historical individuals. It was a worth while tour of one of the oldest cities of Europe that was a second city of the Hapsburgs. We could see the influence of the communist control with poorly designed newer buildings. The amount of graffiti was depressing also. We did have a rather inexpensive, but good, lunch at the café Lugas on the sidewalk across from the basilica. I had a very good goulash and Sandy had turkey breast stuffed with chicken liver. That was a Hungarian meal. Then we walked past the basilica which was closed for a concert and back across the chain bridge to the bus station to return to the campground. A good day.

On August 25 we left the campground to head for Trieste. We stopped at a campground on Balaton Lake. The woman at the desk had an attitude. She said, “We speak German here” just before she told us to go pick a campsite, in good English. We did find a very nice spot near the shore of a pretty lake. There was a major sailing regatta taking place a couple of miles away. There must have been a couple of hundred small boats of a number of classes ranging from dinghies of the optimist size to twenty footers with spinnakers. That evening we drove to a nearby town. It had a walking street with stores and restaurants along the brick walkway. At the head of the street was a palace that we did not know of. It is very large and the grounds are well cared for and open. There was a wedding or some such going on inside and spilling into the garden. A sign said that there was a wine cellar dating from the fifteenth century. The palace itself looked like 18th or 19th style. We ate at a sidewalk restaurant, and returned to the campground. The next day we drove into Croatia. We had not intended going to Croatia because it is a former Yugoslavian republic that is adjacent to Bosnia and we did not think it would be safe, but it is the direct route to Trieste Italy.

In the morning we headed for Trieste. The entrance to Croatia was easy, just a couple of seconds to look at our passports and hand us a nice map/brochure, and we were on our way. The freeway was good and we stopped in the capital city of Zagreb for some groceries. We tried to find the old city, but no luck. There are a number of new buildings that are mostly glass and interesting designs. There are also older buildings and lots of graffiti. So we drove on through some mountains that the van managed ok to a coastal town of Rijeka that is at the head of a bay below which is the Adriatic archipelago. This is one of the great cruising grounds. We sure missed Utopia Too. We found a crowded, old campground with a pebble beach with wall to wall people. The next morning the bay was full of wind surfers and lasers. The sun on the town on the hillside was like one sees in the movies about the Mediterranean. We then drove around the peninsula through the tourist part of the hillside town. Great buildings with masses of people. The highway was like Hwy 1 in California. Don’t look down. But out in the water were all the islands and what views. We stopped in Pula, at the end of the peninsula, which was pretty large town. It has a marina where we found two American cruising boats with no one aboard. Behind the marina is a roman coliseum that is smaller, but in better shape than the one in Rome. The brochure says that it is still used for outdoor concerts. Thirty km north, on the way to Trieste, we came to camping Laterna. It is the most elaborate yet, but we get a deal through our British camping club. It is on a cove with a roped off swimming beach (pebbled) with rubber rafts and slides and two swimming pools. There are all kinds of play things for children. Some of these you have to pay for. There are bars, shops, fast food, and a sit down restaurant. Sandy gets to eat there tonight as it is our 14th anniversary. The place is full of families. One German parked next to us. He was very talkative, and he showed us how to put up our awning in the correct manner. We have been doing it wrong for over 4 months. Wishing we could afford a nice one like our neighbors, now we have it. Anyway, Sandy bought a swim suit at one of the shops (her’s are on the boat in Maryland). Then we went swimming in the Adriatic. It is in the low 70s and it took me thirty minutes to get all the way in, but we did it.

So here we are in a place we did not plan on and loving it.

We stayed for three days. On the 29th we had our 28th anniversary dinner of carbanara at the campground Italian restaurant. We disagree as to the 28 or 29th of August as our anniversary, so she fixes it so she gets out of cooking for two nights a year. We could look it up on the marriage license, but then one of us would lose. The first dinner was on the water. It was a nice dinner with a good bottle of Cabernet sauvignon. It was followed by a demitas of decaf coffee and a crepe/ice-cream dessert. The restaurant had a band/floor show that started with a children’s thing. There were tens of kids on the floor with two camp councilors leading them. They did the Hokey-pokey in English. The kids knew the routine, and it was in English. They did some other line-dance types of routines then the country and western group of keyboard, guitar and girl singer all dressed in jeans, plaid shirts, big belt buckles and cowboy hats. They did the standard Dolly Parton type things. They brought out a poster of “John Wayne Wanted” and did a floor show with four girls and two boys doing dances and skits. They also had six men up for participation in skits done in German but one in English for the Dutch guy. We did not understand much, but it was fun. We ended with and Irish coffee.

On August 30 we left for Venice by way of Slovenia. We left Croatia at one check station with a wave through. They stamped our passports as we entered Slovenia. Less than thirty minutes later we were waved out of Slovenia and then into Italy. This is our eleventh country. We bypassed Trieste and drove to the peninsula across the lagoon from Venice. We ended at Camping Miramare. We stayed in camp on Friday because of a threat of rain then took the ferry to Venice on Saturday. Mistake. It was very crowded on Saturday and Sunday. We did walk the half mile to check out the ferry. We looked at a display of how they are going to protect the lagoon from the 3 to 5 high tides a year that are damaging Venice. They are installing gates that are raised by inflating with air when the high tide and strong wind are expected. They will lower it by filling it with water. They have to close three openings. On Saturday we took the ferry to town, and first visited the Doges palace. The islands were settled by people who were escaping from the invasion of the Huns in the 800s or so. They developed a canal based town that was successful. Eventually in the Middle Ages they developed a ruling class of successful merchants who became the dominant community of the Mediterranean. There legal system was based upon a Dodge who was elected for life from among the nobles. This system lasted until the 18th century when they joined the Kingdom of Italy. The building was based upon a design from the 15th century. It is highly decorated with much gold and paintings and frescoes by famous artists. The ones there now are mostly from the 1570s and 80s that were after a fire in 1574. We rode the water bus on the Grand Canal after walking through the narrow streets or passage ways to the Rialto Bridge. We ate a pizza at a little café near the railroad station. I thought the neighborhood would be less touristy than the San Marco area. It is, but it is dingy with lots of graffiti.

We rode the boat back to San Marco square and walked around until dusk before taking another boat ride along the canal. While waiting for dark we had a beer for 16 euros. I thought that was expensive until the next day. The night time boat ride on the Grand Canal was not as special as we hoped as there are not as many lights as we expected. Many buildings were totally dark. Maybe they were hotels where the guests were out to dinner, but they looked lonely. We caught the 2300 ferry back to Punta Sabbioni. It was a good day, but the condition of the back streets was disappointing. On Sunday we returned. It was to be the day of the gondolier’s regatta, and a film festival so the place was jammed. We tried to visit San Marco Basilica, but the line was too long. So we walked the back streets near San Marco square. It was lined by shops selling glass from the nearby Murano island and other expensive things like fur coats. There was even a Ferrari store. Who would buy a car in a town with streets of water? We had lunch of pasta and salad with a bottle of merlot for a reasonable price in one of the tiny cafes a few blocks from San Marco square. Then we walked with the massive crowds to Rialto Bridge. We managed to get a good spot to watch the gondola regatta, but it did not start for over an hour and we became too hot and tired, so we left. We walked back to the square and stood in line to visit the basilica. They wanted me to check my backpack and return to the back of the line. I was too tired for the wait, so we missed it. We decided to go back to the ferry. It was not running for the next two hours because of the regatta, so we had to kill time. Eventually, to get out of the sun, we sat down for a beer. It was 11 euros each or $15 for a bottle of beer. Eventually we caught a very crowded ferry back to the campground. It was a long day, but in summary, Venice is a very elegant city with a lot of stylish visitors. The shinny black gondolas with gold plate are something to see. The doge palace is remarkable. San Marco Square is pigeon heaven with people feeding them. In general, the buildings are spectacular, but some are in poor repair. The beautiful Marano glass is sold everywhere, but very expensive. One glass sailboat was a thousand euros. They would not take Utopia Too in trade. Bring your money to Venice. But we feel it was worth the cost and hassle.

After a lay day at the campground, on 9/4 we drove to Bologna and parked at the city campground. The next day we took the bus into Bologna. We were surprised at the appearance of the town. The walks of the main streets are covered arcades or porticos that are pretty. There were frescoes painted on the ceilings of some of the arcades which were structured like the ceilings of many cathedrals. There are many squares with monuments. The Dominican church has a lot of paintings and one structure that may be a tomb there are a number of carvings by Michelangelo. There is a large wall plak that says something about St. Thomas Aquinas. He was a Dominican, I believe, and whether this is a memorial or he is buried there, I could not tell. Still it is interesting to this Jesuit educated old man. A wooden cross in one alcove is from 1250.

The markets for food are interesting. In one section of narrow walking streets are a collection of stalls selling meat, fish, vegetables, or bakery products. The Italians often shop daily for fresh food for their meals. We ate at a cafeteria that the locals use for their three hour lunch break. It was very good. I had pasta and roast veal, and Sandy had a salad and ravioli. There was so much we had a doggie bag for the next evening. There were many high cost stores along the arcades with shoes for 120 euros and more. There were two tall towers in front of St Peter’s church. One was leaning a lot. We bought airplane tickets for October 10 from Amsterdam to Orlando. So it is settled, it will be a six month and six day trip. We got an e-mail from Fred Jones saying he is interested in buying the van.

On 9/6 we drove to Florence. We got there in the morning and decided to take the bus into town that afternoon. We visited the Franciscan basilica, Santa Croce that was started in the 13th century. The power structure of the city decided that they wanted to build a sort of monument to the famous so they arranged for many leaders and artists to be buried in the church. Most notable are Michelangelo, Machiavelli (sp?), and Galeao. In the later case, the Catholic Church in the 16th century would not let Galileo be buried in a church because he was excommunicated because he said the Earth was not the center of the universe. The Franciscans hid his body until the storm calmed down and then buried him in a fabulous tomb. There are chapels paid for by business men who were trying to buy their way into heaven. Apparently, they were loan sharking and afraid of hell. We also visited the Doumo or cathedral which is the most elaborate church on the outside with white and green marble and lots of statues in notches. It is a very ornate T shaped cathedral. Inside it is dark and not as interesting as Santa Croce. The baptistery is located in front of the Doumo. It is from the 13th century and the sculptured doors are famous. We walked around, but did not have time to visit the museums. We walked back to the bus over the Ponte Vecchio the sides of which are lined with expensive jewelry shops. We decided not to stay as the campground was very expensive at 33 euros, and we are not big museum buffs.

The next day we drove to Assisi to a campground high above the town. In the morning we drove down and parked. We walked this most beautiful town built on the side of a hill. It is a walled city with many buildings dating from the 12th century when St. Francis and St. Clair founded their orders there at the beginning of the 13th century. Frances died in 1226 and the basilica that is the headquarters of his order is hugh. It is two churches one above the other and St. Frances’s tomb is below the bottom one. The upper church has frescoes depicting the events of his life. These were done in the 13th century. We saw a number of monks around, some quite young. Many of the older monks had headsets and microphones as if they are tour guides. We bought audio guides which helped us to understand the place. We did not stand in line to visit the tomb.

The town has narrow streets, some with stairs due to the high hillside. A lot of them have window gardens and look like homes. Julius Murray who worked at SRI said that Assisi is the most beautiful medieval city in Europe. From our point of view that holds true. When we returned to the van, there was a 36 Euro parking ticket as we had parked in a one hour lot. So we left for Siena where the campground was closed. Sandy asked the desk clerk at a Best Western hotel for directions and we ended up about 20 km south of town on a hill at a resort campground with swimming pool and all. It is Camping Fontemaggio, but showers did not work. We stayed a couple of days because Sandy had a cold.

On 9/10 we drove toward Grossetto and through the town. Then we went a number of km up the coast to a campground near the beach, Camping Maremma. It is on the Mediterranean and has its own beach. We walked to the beach and waded a bit. We stayed a second day and had an evening on the beach to watch a great sundown. Jack forgot the camera. He did not forget the cold. On 9/13 we drove along the coast toward Pisa. It was beautiful with great views of three off shore islands. The larger was Elba. We found a campground called Campeggio Torre Pendente. It was nice. We had nice neighbors who were Italian. Paulo was a retired Rear Admiral in the Italian Navy. He was very friendly, and constantly joked about doing women’s work when he went to do the dishes. Jack’s cold held things up until 9/16 when we walked into Pisa to the walled town. The leaning tower is still standing and quite impressive as it was started in the 1200s. After the fourth floor it was still vertical, but worked stopped until the 1300s when it was started again and began to lean. For some reason it was completed. Through the years it has been restored. Most of the local marble has been replaced by Cararra marble. The Cathedral and Baptistery are equally impressive, although since it was Sunday and services were on, we did not enter. We walked the town for a couple of hours and became tired of the so-so quality of the buildings and the graffiti so we went back to the campground. Jack’s cold was still a problem. We got a message from Fred Jones that he wants to buy the van. We e-mailed Donna Turner and she told us how to do that.

On 9/17 we left the campground and drove toward the Cinque Terre that is up the coast. We chose to avoid the Autostrada or freeway so we could see the small towns. It was nice going through Masa and Cararra, where Michelangelo got his marble. There is still a very busy business in marble with many stacks of raw marble as large as three by three by three foot blocks. In one area the dust was so thick that we had to close the windows. From Cararra the road started to climb. The autostrada goes through many tunnels in the area, but SS1 which we were on climbed from one mountain town to the other. The van did OK in second gear most of the time and the temperature between Normal and hot. The hillsides were very steep. We eventually dropped down to Levanto which is a village on the water with a beach and small harbor. Levanto is a tourist town because it has a sand beach and is just north of the national park called Cinque Terre. We found the campground Aqua Dulce which is very close to town. We walked to the beach and around the town that evening. The next day we stayed in the campground except for walking the town and doing some e-mail. We had a beer at a beach side bar as we watched the sun and water bathers.

On 9/18 we visited the Cinque Terre. It is a region of about 20 miles of very steep coast where the locals for centuries developed terraces for planting grapes and some olive trees. There are five isolated villages that were connected by rail in the late 1800s. The train runs through tunnels to small openings at each village. The villages are all very steep on the hills with vineyards above. Many of the streets are narrow stairways. There are marinas and launch ramps for the many fishing boats of bright color that are stored in the streets of the towns. There are roads to the top of the towns in most cases and there is bus as well as train service. We went to the station and bought excursion tickets for train, bus and national park then rode the train to the last town of the five, Riomaggrore. We walked the two main streets and took pictures of the houses clinging to the hillsides. Then we walked the rather level and well paved path to Manarola. It is a beautiful coast that is steep to with terraced vineyards above. It looks like much of the old terraced areas are abandoned now, but high up there are good looking vineyards. The water is a clear aqua-blue with waves crashing on the rocks. After walking the town we took the coastal trail to Corniglia. This trail was not finished like the first one. The surface was rough and there were many steep parts. Still, the scenery was great, rivaling Carmel in California. There were many desert plants such as prickly pear cactus and even century plants. The last hundred yards were lined by derelict sales booths. This blocked out the view and hurt the experience. When we got to the train station we were tired and decided to not take the 360 steps up to the town proper, but boarded the train to Vernazza. This was the best and most crowded with tourists so far. We walked to the marina with many well painted 15 to 20 foot fishing boats on buoys or drawn up on land. There was a breakwater and a beach behind it. There were many sun and water bathers. We had lunch at a nice sidewalk restaurant. Sandy had muscles and clam with spaghetti, and Jack had minestrone soup and we shared a salad. This with a half liter of white wine which was followed by coffee and flan. The folks at the next table were from Akron Ohio. He works for Bridgestone tire and she is a family physician. They are visiting Italy and the Check Republic where she was born. He is from Slovakia. Both have been in the US a long time including her medical training. They are nice and we enjoyed visiting. We were tired and foot sore so we decided to skip the fifth town, Monterosso. We took the train back to Levanto and walked dragging our butts back to the campground. It was a great, tiring day with beautiful scenery and towns, good food, and friendly people including a couple of couples from Pennsylvania we talked to a couple of times. So we have seen the Cinque Terre, which for us was the 3.5 Terre.

On 9/20 we left the campground. We stopped to change the oil. The mechanic could not open the drain so he pumped the oil through the dip stick opening. He put in six liters because he said he had taken out that much. The charge was 120 euros. I thought that was high, but it was 15 euros a liter for the oil. This seemed high, but later I checked at a service station and theirs was 12. We drove with too much oil in the engine as I found later to Portofino. The road along the coast was narrow through town, and when we got to Portofino the police would not let us park our van. So we went back eight km to Rapalla to a campground.

The next day we took the bus into Santa Margarita, a pretty harbor town. We walked around trying to find a chandlery where we could buy a pump to take out the two extra liters of oil. No luck. We took an excursion ferry to Portofino. It is a small, but protected, harbor surrounded by multicolored buildings. It is a pretty town, but now just a tourist attraction with expensive bars and restaurants. There was even a cruise ship parked out with people lightered in. So we caught the ferry back and the bus back to the campground in Rapalla. The next day we drove into the town and found a service station where a nice man found a second drain plug and removed two liters. He only charged five euros. We returned the van and took a bus to the center of Rapalla. We walked around past the Saturday market and through the picturesque streets and walked the water front promenade. We had a good Chinese meal at a reasonable price then returned to the campground. On 9/23 we took the autobahn to Nice area in France. The tolls are expensive in France. We found the campground La Vieille Ferme in Villeneuve-Loubet-Plage which is about nine km west of Nice. The next day we drove the van to get groceries and did some e-mail. Fred Jones is thinking of buying the van and he wants pictures. On the 25th we took the pictures and then could not get them on the e-mail using the campground wifi. On the 26th we stayed in camp due to rain.

On the 27th we drove to Cannes and parked near the marina. We watched a sailboat race start. It appeared to be a major international regatta, possibly of the dragon class. There were boats with many country designations on their sails from as far away as Russia and Ireland. We did not go into the town. The next day was beautiful with clear air. We could see as far as the Italian alps that were coated in snow from the storm of the previous two days. The sea was a sparkling blue under the bright sun, much bluer than I expected so close to shore. We drove east as far as Monte Carlo. We drove past Nice along the Promenade de Angles with all the tourists walking. As we left Nice the road climbed and we stopped at an overlook that gave a great view of the coast and the harbors near Cap St Jean Ferrat. We dropped down to a lower road and drove around the Cap past many elaborate villas and a small, very upscale village. Then we continued east along the water. We stopped at a parking area and Sandy fixed sandwiches. Then we went on to the crowded area of Monaco and Monte Carlo. It is just side-by-side hotels, some very elaborate of turn of the century design. (Last century) There are a couple of harbors with many mega yachts. We could not find a parking place so we could not visit the famous casino, and had to skip gambling. On our return we drove a bit though Nice to locate the hotel where we will meet Ivor and Audrey Brodie, our Calfornia friends in a few days.

On the 29th we went to the supermarket then drove north to the town of Vence where the artist Matice had lived and designed a chapel with many of his artistic works for a local convent. We could not find a parking space so we missed the chapel. We drove down to a hilltop, medieval village above Cognes Sur Mer that is the site of the 14th century castle Grimaldi. The castle, now a museum, was closed for lunch so we walked the ancient, hillside streets that are only walking width. The houses look very old and are in good condition. They are clearly residences with hanging flower baskets and vines on the walls. We drove down the hill into Cognes Sur Mer to visit an open market art show. The art was pretty good including some sculpture one of which using tools to make the figures.

The next day we drove about five miles east along the coast to Antibes and parked on the street. We walked the large yacht harbor with many more mega yachts. Among the small boats was a Macgregor 26X which is the only American-made boat we have seen in Europe. There was also one boat from Annapolis. We walked the narrow streets of the old town that were lined with restaurants. We also visited the Sunday market where they were selling produce, meats, spices, and Cheeses as well as crafts and clothing. There is a wall along the waterfront. We walked on it and could view the harbor, the Med, and a protected sandy beach.

On 10/1 we took the bus to Monaco/Monte Carlo. It ran along the route we had driven a few days earlier. It was also another beautiful clear day. We arrived a few minutes after noon so we had to walk around the town until the Casino opened at 2:00. The buildings are from the 19th century, I believe. They are very interesting and in great repair. There are a number of up-scale of all the expensive French brands such as Cartier, Louis Vuitton, and Rolex. In front of the Casino a Bentley convertible and a Ferrari were parked. We had a beer and talked to the bar tender who had spent some time working in Florida and California. We also talked with an Australian couple who were in France for the rugby world cup. That’s a long trip just to watch a few ball games. The Casino charged a 10 Euro entry fee. It is very ornate inside with ceiling decorations that remind you of the cathedrals of Europe. The gambling tables are not very numerous, and empty at that early time. Two roulette tables were busy. If they can afford to pay four cooperies a table, the odds must be really in their favor. The minimum bet is five euros and each spin would probably have five hundred on the table. The minimum for black jack was 25 to 50 euros ($32-64), and the maximum was 10,000 euros. This was too much for us so we wasted 20 euros on a slot machine. Of course we did not quit when we had our money doubled, but we can say we gambled in the Monte Carlo Casino. We decided to skip this penny anti stuff and split. We walked down the hill overlooking the harbor and the Monaco palace where Grace Kelley lived to catch the bus back to the campground. It was a great day even if we did waste some $50 at the Casino.

After spending a day in the campground, on 10/3 we took the bus into Nice to spend some time with Ivor and Audrey Brodie. Ivor has been my friend, coworker and boss for 45 years. We worked at three companies together for 32 years. He is my best friend. They are on a tour that features a boat trip up the Rhone River. They had two lay days in Nice so we connected with them. Ivor and I had developed a habit of going for a walk on our lunch hour while at SRI. Since retirement we have made a point of taking a walk when I visited them in California. So we decided to include a walk on the Promenade de Angles in Nice as Sandy and I were planning to pass that way in late September. We walked east to the old town and went into the square in front of the palace. We had lunch at a sidewalk café there. Then we walked further east to the point to look out at the water and see the boats in the harbor around the point. When we returned to their hotel they were still jet lagged so we left them for their nap and returned to the campground. We checked out for an early start the next day. It turned out we had been there 11 days.

The next day we drove to Beume which is about 550 km from Nice. The tolls on the freeway were 69 euros. That is about 10 cents a km. On the following day we drove to Luxemburg to a campground for the night. We were too tired to take the bus into town which is sad. On the sixth we drove to Utrecth only to find the campground was closed for the year. We drove to Donna’s place, and stayed in her work yard for the next three nights. It is not pretty, and there are people going in and out, but it seemed to be all there was. As usual, Donna was very accommodating. On the seventh we walked a local market in the Muslim community. On the eighth we cleaned the van and packed our stuff that we were going to take home. Because we had too much baggage to carry the half mile to the train for the half hour trip to the airport, we decided to take the train in with our three largest bags. So we spent the day taking them in and putting them in a locker at the airport. Then on the tenth we left Donnas at 5:30 AM to walk the half mile to the train station carrying the rest of our bags through the drizzle. Our plane left at 10:30, but we wanted to get the bags checked and have breakfast. The plane left on time for a nine hour flight to Atlanta Georgia. Delta airlines has a small video screen at each seat with a number of movies and a selection of music, so the trip was one of the easiest of recent years. We had to collect our bags and get them checked through customs and reload them for the flight to Orlando where we picked up a rental car for the two hour drive to home.

So at about eight PM on October 10 2007 another great adventure of six month and six days came to an end. That was twelve countries and 18000 km of fun.

TRIP SCHEDULE

April 4 Utreck 10 Keukenhof-Nordvick 11 Delft 14 Gouda 15 Harlam 16 Zandvort 17 Schlagan 21 Sneek 22 Arnheim-Hooge Venlawe 23 Leylstadt-Udam Zeeburg 28 Veldhoven (Ron and Merci) 29 Antwerp-Brussels Namur-Dinnant La Roche de Ardennes Tournai-Gehnt May 9 Brugges 12 Dunkirk-Canterbury-Chipping Norton-Stow on the Wold- Norton on the Water 14 North Leach 15 Bath California Cross Lands End Pensance-Bodmin Leak 20 Lake District Landystundy-cricclidth 24 Hollyhead-Dublin 26 Mullingar 28 Balley Shannon – Donegal Dungloe 30 Portsalan 31 Bushmills June 2 Cong-Clonbur Clifden- Conamara 6 Buren-Dulin 8 Foynes 10 Foynes – Mark arrives 11 Blarney 12 Shibbereen 13 kilarny 14 Dingle 15 Dulin 16 Shannon – Mark leaves June 17 Tramore – Waterford 20 Dublin 21 Bala – whales 22 Forest of Dean 23 Salisbury – Sarum 28 Avesbury – Chirchester – Portsmouth 29 Canterbury July 4 Ghivelde – France 5 Bayeaux 8 San Michele 9 Charteres – Paris Oisly Francois at Blasé Natua Bourge-en-Bresse Aug 1 Frieburg 3` Black Forest – Alpirsbach – Heidelberg 6 Rothenberg – Romatic Road Fussen 13 Salzburg 16 Melk –Klostenburg-Vienna-Eden Camp 24 Budapest 25 Balaton Lake 26 Rijeka 27 Pula – Laterna 30 Venice September 4 Bologna 6 Florence 7 Asissi 8 Camping Fontemaggio 10 Grossetto 13 Pisa 17 Levanto – Cinque Terre 20 Rapallo – Santa Margarita – Portofino 23 Villenure-Loubet-Plage – France near Nice Cannes, Nice, Monte Carlo, Cap St. Jean Ferrat, Cognes Sur Mer, Antebes October 3 Nice to visit with Ivor and Audrey Brodie 4 Beume 5 Luxemburg 6 Utrecth, Donna Turner,s 10 Train to Shipol, plane to Atlanta-Orlando, rental car home

QED

COSTS

DOLLARS PER MONTH

Food 470 Dining 316 Fuel 427 Camping 652 Equipment 109 Van Fixes 217 Souvenirs 50 Museums 103 Entertainment 25 Propane 27 Travel 60 Miscellaneous 232

COSTS PER MONTH $

April (26 days0 2430 May 3872 June 2349 July 2891 August 3176 September 2203 October (10 days) 1056 Total 17977 Average 2900