Sicily

6 November

Sicilian driving temperament

Before we start, let's be clear. We love Italians. They are creative, gregarious, mostly friendly and welcoming. Sure, everybody has a bad hair day and you get the odd grumpy official in an office or cassa. But in general they are probably, as individuals, the most sociable people in Europe. Not only that, they are mostly understandable, even though we don't speak Italian – must have been those Latin classes in High School!

However, put them behind the wheel of anything that is self-propelled and they go crazy! The further south you go, the worse they get. In fact, in the north they have become extremely courteous and patient. Coming into Messina in Sicily today was a madhouse, only equalled in our experience by Istanbul and Saigon!

Lane markings mean nothing. Traffic lights are more a suggested course of action rather than mandatory. The horn is a device for the expression of frustration and pedestrians are simply potential collateral damage.

Despite the traffic and difficult signage, we finally found the Aire de Service recommended to us by a French Canadian couple we met last night. The park is specially designed for campervans and is packed with German 'grey nomads' who apparently stay here all winter. It has everything a campground has, but a bit more basic. The town is Giardini Naxos, about 50 kms from Messina, a beach resort, with now moth-balled hotels and a beach front (Lido) packed with bars and restaurants, again, mostly closed for the winter.

Their loss! It's warm, (22C) sunny and extremely scenic, with hill towns in the mountains behind us and the Mediterranean coast before us. Again, what more could you want?

28 November

The Sicilian Mafia

Apparently, the Mafia still rules in Sicily. In fact, some commentators put the whole of Italy south of Rome under the sway of the Mafiosa. When you consider the history of southern Italy, its climate and geography, the notion of continued corruption is understandable. Once called the Mezzo Giorno (middle of the day) because the summer sun always seems high in the sky, southern Italy has always been the poor cousin. Such poverty and the strong family hierarchies that dominate, particularly in Sicilian culture, were bound to encourage the development of a patronage-based system like the Mafia.

How much of this is out there to be seen in Sicily? Frankly, not much. While there were more than 100 Mafia murders in Naples (not in Sicily!) alone in 2006, very little of this seems to impact on the everyday Sicilian. No doubt there is Mafia control of crime and corruption, but life seems to go on much as it does in the rest of Italy – although with a lot more noise! Horns, sirens and flashing lights fill the air, day and night.

Yesterday we took the bus from our camp in Giardini Naxos to the nearby hill town of Taormina. We had considered driving there yesterday but, after our Amalfi experience, we elected to let someone drive who knew what they were doing on narrow roads!

The weather was a bit average, with low clouds and only a few periods of sunshine. The scenery was still well worth the trip. Taormina was settled by the Greeks, who have always had a good eye for Real Estate. Their Theatre is one of the main attractions in this town that clings impossibly to cliff faces overlooking the Ionian Sea. Even higher up the mountain is the ruin of a Saracen Fort. Naturally, we had to climb to the very top of the hill to visit the fort. After probably the hardest climb we have ever done (AND we've done a few! - AND we are fairly fit after two months on the roam) we got to the top gate, only to find the Fort closed! To top the afternoon off, we missed the pre-siesta bus back down the hill and had to kill an hour so in a Pizzeria! Oh well. The trials of travel. It was GOOD Pizza!

For the initiated, Mediterranean Europe still 'closes up shop' for the siesta, every day from 1:00pm until around 3:30pm. Kids go home from school. Workers either head for the local Bar or go home for lunch and tourists roam empty streets, puzzled looks on their faces, rattling locked doors. Even small but crowded cities like Messina experience four peak traffic periods a day as streets are crammed with cars, double parked from about 12:30pm outside schools and childcare centres, while office workers jump in their cars and drive home for lunch. A repeat performance occurs at about 3:30pm every day as everybody goes back to work or school. Crazy stuff!

Tonight in Siracusa, a savage storm rumbles around us and the rain is pelting down. It rained heavily most of the morning and was blowing a gale all afternoon. The storm may be a good omen though. Last time we had this weather pattern was a week or so ago and the storm cleared to a few fantastically clear warm days. Here's hoping.

29 November

Fish

Sicily is an island – obviously! So the Saturday fish markets in Siracusa, Sicily, are also, obviously, something to behold.

When we lived in North Queensland, we marvelled at the ability of the local Italian population to scrounge a a feed from the multitude of small fish and other creatures they dragged up in nets from the beach. Now we know. The variety of seafood that Sicilians eat is enormous, ranging from tiny crustaceans to giant swordfish and every other imaginable creature of the deep. We would have loved to have bought some to try, but with the heat as it is here (+20C) and our van's poor refrigeration, we couldn't take the chance. 

But fish isn't all there is to Siracusa. Far from it. Siracusa has weathered more invasions than the variety of fish in the market - Etruscans, Greeks, Romans, Turks, Austrians, Spanish, French and the Allies in WWII, just to mention a few. All have left their mark in one way or another. For example, just around the corner from our vanpark, we came upon the ruins of a Spanish Mission style church that had been incorporated into a much more recent building.

Greek and Roman Amphitheatres stand side by side in the ancient part of the city, strangely named the 'Neopolis' or “New City”, a large archaeological park which includes the ruins of original Greek and Roman settlements.

The Medieval part of the city that surrounds the port is what we would call the 'old city'. Here, medieval buildings crowd in along narrow lanes that have also seen their share of invaders over the past 1500 years.

Now a sprawling suburb with apartment blocks interspersed with shops, the more modern 18^th century Siracusa also has a certain easy charm. Life isn't all that hectic here – except between 12:30 and 1:30pm when everybody goes home for siesta! And between 3:30 and 4:00 when they all return to work!

People here are remarkably friendly. Walking along the street, you get at least a nod from passers-by and if you pass someone alone on a street and make eye contact, you generally get a “Bon Giorno.” - a far cry from our experiences greeting Norwegians on walking paths when they all but turned and ran when we said good day to them!

By the way – Yes. The weather did turn today as predicted and it was again sunny and warm. Who knows what will come next in a Mediterranean climate?

30 November

Surprising Sicily

A few days back we wrote about the “two Italys” - the wealthy and developed north and the poorer south.

Time for a rethink?

While Messina, our entry point to Sicily, was a bit run-down and definitely hectic, what we have seen of the rest of Sicily, so far, has been quite different. Smaller cities and towns seem to be doing very well – thank you – reasonable roads, ugly, but new, clean apartment blocks in the cities and the country towns seem to have done very well of late.

Today, our wedding anniversary, we took it relatively easy and chugged less than 100 klms to the beach town of Marina Di Modica. We didn't really mean to, but we saw a shopping centre outside the town of Modica, stopped in the hope of getting bread and ended up getting Paul's glasses fixed. (He had dropped them and broken an arm some weeks ago and they were driving him crazy. On the off-chance, he took them with him.) It was Sunday, and most of the mainland is closed tighter than a drum. Not here. It was all happening, well at least until 1:00pm – remember siesta.

After a complicated conversation with the optometrist who spoke no English, during which half the sales persons in the complex tried to assist her - and us – even resorting to using the Google language translator – we headed off to a Van camp we had been told about by people we met earlier on.

There was a Vietnamese clothing market (yes they are everywhere!) operating in the parking area when we arrived, so we parked on the beach for most of the afternoon, before heading back to Modica to pick up the glasses. We thought that a 5pm pick-up time on a Sunday was a little odd, but oh no. The world came to life after 5. This was outlet heaven and the whole of Sicily, or at least this part of it, shops here on Sunday evening!

Returning to the marina, we found the markets still in full swing so we parked up a side street until they packed up and left – about 6:30.

Tonight, Mediterranean pounding less than 20 metres away, in the company of Grey Nomads from most of Northern Europe, we can reflect on the difference between the stereotypical image of Sicily that we had before we came here. Images that are probably shared by many. Should we blame the “Godfather” image so closely associated with Sicily? Yes, there is probably still a high organised crime rate here and yes, there are still some pockets of poverty and, undoubtedly, areas where one shouldn't stray in the larger cities. But on the whole, what we have seen is just great. People are friendly, the countryside is beautiful and the beaches 'fair to good' (by Australian standards), but probably excellent for Europe.

1 December

First day of winter

From Modica to Agrigento was all we managed today, another short trip of about 150klms, with the sun truly belting down. The south-eastern coast of Sicily is a mix of rugged small mountains and fertile valleys, packed with plastic glasshouses producing everything from tomatoes to chillies. They probably have the longest growing season in Europe here, almost a full year!

Harvest is in full swing. Trucks and small motor-bike trucks, laden with produce, puttered along the highway at a pace that was even too slow for us. These broad valleys are extremely crowded and busy. As we reached the crest of each hill we 'oohed' at the clusters of, white, buildings and farm houses, scattered over the valley floor.

Seafronts of most towns are fairly deserted this time of the year, so we were able to find an alley way between beach villas to the Mediterranean for our lunch spot. Windows fully open to catch the breeze, it was hard to believe it was the first day of winter.

As we crested the last hill into Agrigento this afternoon, the reason for our visit lined the ridge in front of us. The Valley of the Temples. From what we could see from a distance, we are in for a great day tomorrow. Ruins of Greek temples glistened in the late afternoon sun, as Agrigento was a colony of Greece, established in the 6^th century, B.C.

It is very warm here, even tonight. Since we picked up the van six weeks ago, we have had only a couple of nights when we needed the heater. Lucky, because when we are in a camping ground, rather than 'free camping', we can't always run the electric heater. Particularly in Italy, the circuit breakers are set to cut out at a level well below what our heater draws. Even the toaster won't work!!! We have the heater on tonight, even though it is probably 14-15C outside – it's washing day and we use the inside of the van as a giant clothes dryer. The only problem is we are in the clothes dryer with all our gear. Gets more than a bit hot! And humid!

We also have a gas heater, gas fridge and, of course, a gas stove. We have been very careful with our gas usage. We have had enormous difficulty getting gas on previous trips. This time, things are a little better. The van has a system that can be filled at LPG filling stations, just like cars at home. We have been testing the capacity of the system since we got the van, because we know that LPG is not available in Spain or Morocco, so we'll need to be able to run for 3-4 weeks on one tank when we cross into Spain. We filled up today after 20 days and needed only 10 litres. We figure we have a 20+ litre cylinder so we should be ok.

2-3 December

Greeks

Yes we are in Sicily and Sicily is part of Italy, but the Greeks have had a long connection with this part of the Mediterranean. We try to avoid enormous detail about the places we visit in this blog, however, every now and then, a little detail becomes necessary.

Sicily, particularly its ancient sites, has been a real eye-opener for us. We expected something out of The Godfather, but what we have seen, while a little “untidy” around the edges, has been a 'go-ahead' region with a unique and well-preserved history. History is where the Greeks come in.

When we were young (er), another Greek invasion was in full swing in Australia, as well as other parts of the New World. In Australia, the new Greek population was extremely active in small businesses - fruit shops, corner stores and, of course, the ubiquitous Fish and Chip shop! This enterprising spirit goes way back. In the 7^th and 6^th centuries BC, the Greeks were spreading out across the Mediterranean, setting up trading colonies. In many areas, like Sicily, they were the first of a long line of settlers?/ colonialists?/invaders? who built towns, markets and monuments centuries before the Romans made this part of the world their own and thousands of years before the Turks, Normans, Bourbons and all the other 'come latelys'.

Sicily abounds with ruins of the civilization the Greeks established. Yesterday, in the Valley of Temples near Agrigento and again today at Selinunte, we were stunned by the extent of the Greek archaeological sites. Temples on the scale of the Parthenon were common on both sites. What was even more amazing were the extensive remains of the settlements that surrounded these temples. While Angkor Wat in Cambodia still is the winner in the ancient monument field for us, after the last couple of days, Sicily comes a close second!

Selinunte was notable because of the almost totally free access visitors have to the ruins, Unlike many other important ancient sites, one can clamber over the ruins here and walk right through the temples. Elsewhere, important people with whistles blast out every time someone strays too close to a monument – or dares to sit down!

Wandering about unrestricted amongst the remnants of houses where people lived over 2500 years ago sets the imagination racing. Not much is left on site of everyday life, but near-by museums have collections of objects excavated over the centuries. The one at Agrigento was particularly good and extremely well presented. Many bits and pieces have obviously been looted or souvenired over the millennia as many civilizations have called these sites home. Somehow though, the sense of the original cities shows through. For example, a cluster of ruins of small urban dwellings cling to the cliffs on the edge of ancient Selinunte, overlooking a small bay with a reasonable beach (by Australian standards) and with stunning views of the Mediterranean. On the other side of the bay today, similar, although probably far more luxurious, modern houses, enjoy the same natural wonders.

Over the past 2500 years, these ruins have been lived on and in by everybody from local shepherds and subsequent civilizations to allied soldiers seeking cover. WWII pill boxes still dot the landscape of coastal Sicily - a reminder of this most recent invasion.

A special touch today was that we had the total site to ourselves with the exception of a couple of Germans who disappeared after 10 minutes - and the 'temple dog' who took it upon her scruffy self to accompany us. After several wrong turns in our 5-6 km ramble, she had enough of trotting back and leading us the right way. We were abandoned!

6 December

SPECIAL EDITION

Understanding Italian Driving Rules

Last time, we promise! Italian driving...

Let us be very clear. Italians are excellent drivers. They have to be to stay alive on the by-ways of their great country. What we visitors all miss is the fact that these are Italian roads and Italian drivers can make their own rules.

Many years ago, they had a local rule regarding traffic lights. Red lights were just a discretionary warning that traffic might be coming the other way; zebra crossings were just an area where one's chances of being killed were marginally less than elsewhere and there was some chance that your estate could sue the driver who ended your life!

To be fair, these rules have changed. Now, almost all traffic stops at red lights and, even more astounding, nobody beeps two nano-seconds after the light changes. Pedestrians are relatively safe on zebra crossings as long as they are assertive and keep a close eye on anything that moves near them.

What one has to understand is that the rules relating to line markings on Italian roads are totally different to those that exist elsewhere. Roads in Italy have the following markings: solid white lines delineate the left and right margins of the traffic way; the centre of the road is marked by one of the following: a solid white line, a broken white line, a double solid white line or a solid white line and a broken white line. Not too different so far, is it?

Now here are the rules that 'officially' apply (must be 'cause everybody – including the Giardiniari - does it!) in Italy.

Solid white lines on the external margins of roads: - drivers are not to go anywhere near these, unless parking, in which case the passenger's side wheel may come within 1 metre of the inside of the line, or, if the driver is in a hurry, just the front wheels. (Nose in!) Then turn on the hazard lights!

Broken centre lines. These are to allow drivers to centre their vehicles on the road. Those with Mercedes vehicles are especially catered for because their bonnet ornament is specially designed to align with these markers.

Single solid lines are for non-Mercedes drivers. They may align either their driver's or passenger's side front wheel with these lines.

Double solid lines warn drivers that they are approaching a blind corner and that they should look for small monuments and bunches of flowers dedicated to all those who also thought this was an optimal time to pass.

Single solid line with a broken line – all drivers may pass. Only those on the solid line side need to look for small monuments and bunches of flowers. The others are probably Mercedes drivers who own the road!

8 December

2^nd Class cabins

We aren't sure why, but we seem to spend much of our time on trips like this camped by the beach? Given the large area of Europe that is nowhere near water, this is somewhat of a puzzle. Could be our Australian need to see the sea? Tonight it's a small beach at the town of Torre Grande in Sardinia.

A couple of nights back, we left Sicily via Palermo for the other big Italian Island of Sardinia. Palermo itself was never on our itinerary, but seeing as we had several hours up our sleeve waiting for the ferry, we took a stroll into town. Nowhere have we seen the 'two Italys' so clearly portrayed than in the centre of Palermo.

Close to the harbour is the poorer, older part of the city. Narrow lanes with washing flapping from small balconies four to six floors up, peeling plaster and the grime of centuries all meld together to give the area a real character. Add to the mix a Saturday night street market with everything from pig's innards to plastic toys and every kind of sea creature imaginable and you have a very exciting neighbourhood.

Around the corner and a block further away from the harbour, the shopping streets are tree-lined and oh, oh so chic! $1000 leather boots, all the latest from Milan and Paris, displayed in the usual “Louis Vuitton, Max Mara, Pierre 'Cardigan' world”.

We came back to reality later in the evening, when we were finally flagged on to the cargo deck of the ferry - with the trucks, as usual! Upstairs, our cabins for the 15 hour over-nighter to Cagliari in Sardinia awaited us. Cheap, as usual, we had gone for the second class cabins. Our rationale was that we were living in a campervan. How small can a ferry cabin be?

Answer. As small as our double bed in the van. Not the cabin bed. The whole cabin! It was nearly impossible for both of us to stand beside the bunks at the same time. Lucky there was next to nobody on the ship. We were practically able to take over the hallway as part of our room.

Almost two full days into Sardinia we are again amazed! We know very little about Sardinia, except that people here are very long-lived. This could have something to do with the air? Clear as a bell.

Cagliari, our port of disembarkation, is a smallish city of about 200,000 souls. It was Sunday and a long weekend so they all must have left town. We had the place to ourselves. Having spotted an oldish part of the city high on a ridge - we have a thing about climbing things - we set off. To our surprise, the city fathers had installed two lifts to drag sorry souls like us to the heights of the old city. How thoughtful – and they were free!

We know all these medieval old cities will merge into a blur in a few months, but this was yet another beauty! The weather didn't hurt either. Blue, blue sky and an extremely mild 20ish afternoon.

Today we went looking for Nuraghe. Never heard of them? Neither had we, but there are more than 7000 of them on Sardinia. Having had the full tour - in Italian - today, we are much better informed? Seems the original inhabitants of Sardinia built these structures in the Bronze Age as forts for protection and to control territory. The one we visited in the small village of Barumini was quite a sophisticated structure with multiple towers and a small village around its base.

The scenery in Sardinia has a bit of a familiar feel. Gum trees line the roads and some of the colours of the sweeping valleys have that brownish Australian tinge to them. Much less crowded than either the mainland or Sicily, the countryside, and the roads, are far easier to negotiate. Two days in, we like Sardinia.

10 December

Toilet talk

After several days free-camping, last night just had to be a camping ground. One (in particular) can only go so long without washing (one's) hair, or clothes. No prize for guessing which – one!

With some of the best scenery in Europe, better than average beaches and a climate that would be considered great in mid summer in northern Europe, you would expect that escapees from the northern winter would pack the camping grounds of Sardinia. Well, no. In fact, very few are even open. We had two locked in for last night. Probably the only two open on the whole island. The first took us hours to find and of course it was closed. The second was equally hard to find but, to the relief of 'one', (and therefore the other “one”!) it was open. Hot water, washing machine, power and toilets! - all was well.

Toilets deserve a special mention. The prize for the best amenities block still goes to Camping Flaminia in Rome. Piped classical music, automatic flushing, in-door plants, marble everywhere, water features, magnified make-up mirrors – with stools to sit like a lady while one completes one's “toilette” - and the cleanest camp ground toilets we have ever seen - and believe us, we have seen camp ground toilets.

The wooden spoon is too difficult to call just now. We haven't been to Morocco yet! But any camp with old squat toilets, b-y-o paper and those smelly little bins where the used paper goes – that's right, not down the toilet, in the bin! - is in the running.

Squats have all but disappeared from northern Europe, but tradition dies hard here in the south! Even Asian countries have switched to pedestals, at least in tourist areas and large cities. A French family member once defended the squat to us, on the grounds that they are much more hygienic than the toilet seat of a public pedestal toilet. Not a bad point, but one needs to be quick on one's feet, wearing a stout pair of boots and not encumbered with winter coats for that to remain true!

Most European camping grounds are fairly 'rustic'. The emphasis seems to be on restaurants and bars rather than high quality camping facilities. As a rule, the restaurants and bars are none too flash either. The standards are significantly higher in most Australian caravan parks, where water, power and waste water disposal is fairly uniformly available on each individual site (pitch). Many these days also have TV connections and wireless internet. Where some European parks have the edge is their location. We have stayed in some beautiful spots, both in cities and by the beach.

And then there is the “Aire”, a broad definition used essentially by the French to describe something that is not a camping ground per se, but that may have some of the services provided by camping grounds. These vary from beach side carparks with no services whatever, like the one we are in tonight, to places with electric connections, showers, toilets, and waste disposal. Some charge up to 20 Euros (AUD40) a night. Others are free. Some local authorities actually provide 'Aires' to attract business to their small towns and villages. Not a bad deal all round. Campervanners like us get a free night, probably water to fill our tank and a bin for our rubbish. We usually visit the local shop. We might buy fuel, visit some local attraction or hit the restaurants. Everbody's a winner.

11 December

Moby .. Moby .. Moby!

Having spent the night in yet another idyllic beach location – and for free - we were a little disappointed with the weather this morning. Overcast but not raining. We had ordered another perfect day for our last day on Sardinia, but never mind.

The last thing we had planned to do before we left the island was visit the birthplace and tomb of Garibaldi, a larger than life character who played a significant role in the unification of Italy in the last half of the 19^th Century. With his '1000 men', Garibaldi roamed the peninsula, pulling the various disparate Italian states into line. At the end of the day, Victor Emanuel II had the credibility that Garibaldi seemed to lack and so it was he who was finally able to lead the nation into unity. It's a very long story told here in two lines but you get the drift.

Garibaldi's home island of Caprere is just off the far north coast of Sardinia. A ferry goes from the small town of Palau. But we had another ferry to sort first. On our way, we stopped into the port of Olbia to book our overnight trip back to the mainland at Livorno. We had no trouble finding the port or the office – for a change! - we were a bit disappointed, though, when we found that we couldn't stay in our camper on deck as we did 8 years ago going from Greece to Italy. Back to this later..

Palau is only 40kms north of Olbia so we had plenty of time to get there and catch a ferry. Or so we thought. After our traditional three circuits of the town centre looking for parking, we finally found a friendly tourist information centre where we discovered that it was only possible to visit dear old Garibaldi in the morning. It was now 12:01! The guy at the tourist office had just visited Australia so he was very keen to be helpful and offer alternatives. Armed with his books, we set off to visit the fort built in the 19thC to protect the island from the nasty French from just a few kms over the water in Corsica. Nice view. But closed!

A disappointing day... But wait. There is always a saver! MOBY!

Those who read our 8 December blog will recall the horrors of the 2^nd class cabin on the trip from Palermo to Cagliari. Moby, our new favourite ferry company, is another story. While we couldn't camp on deck, the disappointment was more than compensated by the brand new ship, cabins with ensuite and more than enough room to swing several cats. We aren't sure, but we think we might stay indefinitely? We had dinner on the dock in the van before boarding, expecting the same over priced deep- fried cardboard we got on our last long voyage. Wrong again. Reasonably priced quality food in abundance. Live and learn...

13 December

Cinque Terre

Topping off our great ferry trip from Olbia to Livorno was our discovery in the port, on arrival, of the mecca of all campervanners. A “dump point”. And free at that! A dump point is a service provided by local councils that probably got sick of the thousands of campervanners who roam Europe who, in the past, have had to dump their grey water and, worse still, toilets, in their streets and by-ways and to back into parks to steal water. And yes, we have been guilty of same. There comes a point where waste must be disposed of and, if there are no or few campgrounds open, one must do what one must do. (A photo from our 1987 trip shows a certain person, with the toilet in hand, disappearing into the forest somewhere in Germany.)

A dump point, officially called 'Camper Services' is simply a large parking bay with a drain pit for waste water, a connection to the sewer for toilet dumping and, if you are lucky, drinking water and a rubbish bin. For Livorno, four out of four! Loaded – and unloaded, we had a very early start on our drive to the last remaining site for us in Italy, the National Park of the Cinque Terre. Not a National Park in the Australian or American sense. More like a preserved urban habitat?

Five beautiful – and very photogenic – villages cling to the cliffs of the Mediterranean before a back- drop of steep, terraced hills, supporting vineyards and olive plantations. We had hoped to walk most of the length of the 9 klms through the hills and around the cliffs, from Riomaggiore to Monterossa, a 5 hour walk on a good day. Sadly, today started out with drizzle and mist, although it improved as we sped down the coast on the train from our overnight park behind the station in the small town of Levanto.

Getting off the train, we ran into an Australian family from Sydney and a little further on, a young couple from Melbourne. It seemed that we were the only 'crazies' walking the wet, slippery, sometimes missing paths of the National Park today. (Parts of the track had slipped, but not too badly, so we could get around the slippages.) It was good to chat away and enjoy the rapidly improving day with fellow countrymen. In fact, as we went from village to village, the streets were full of Aussie accents. Not sure why, but 90% plus of the small number of tourists wandering about were Australians?

Some of the pathways were closed, due to the weather and some collapsing of the pathways, so we couldn't make the full 9klm walk, but what we did manage was spectacular, even on such an average day, weather wise. The National Park villages are spectacular in themselves – narrow, winding lanes, pretty pastel-coloured buildings clinging to the cliffs and amazing marinas. How they get the boats into the water from the middle of town where they are “parked”? - well, we'd love to see it!

From here, we are on a long driving phase through the Italian and French Rivieras and into Spain, heading for Barcelona (always pronounced in Catalan, the northern dialect, with a lisp - 'Bar-th-elona'). We have 'done' the Riviera before and frankly it's not our thing – and they don't like us either. It's definitely not campervan friendly – nowhere to park or stay and, after our last trip, where we took out one or two side mirrors trying to negotiate narrow roads in Nice, lined, on both sides with parked cars, we don't think they'll welcome us back. So it's motorways for 900 klm or so for the next couple of days.

On to Spain.