| Summer 1993 Sun. May 23rd We had a last drink with A+J at the
Odd Fellows pub in Toddington and left for Dover to catch the ferry. It was dark when we
stopped to fill up at a service station. Our first car problem occurred when I couldn't
start Vanessa again. The AA were called but she started again before they arrived. There
were no problems getting on or off the 1am ferry to Ostend. We arrived in Belgium at about
5:am and drove till we found a rest stop where we curled up to sleep. The sun heated up
the van and woke us up a few hours later so we headed on the road again. Mon. May 24th. A day spent driving out of Belgium,
through a bit of Holland (which surprised Helen who was navigating), and into Germany.
Pulled into a rest stop near Hannover surrounded by a field of daisies and funny squawking
birds which may have been roadrunners. Tues. May 25th. Left for Wolfsburg, the site of the
largest car factory in the world where we did an all German 2 hour tour of the factory
until Hels fell asleep. It did go on a bit but was very interesting to see VW Golfs and
Ventos (Jettas) being made. The rest of the day we drove towards Berlin and decided to
detour to Potsdam. It was early evening when we arrived. We knew we were in East Germany
when we began seeing funny little old cars abandoned all over the place (Trabants). We had
dinner by a lake but decided against camping there after a derelict looking guy decided to
take a dump 50 yards from us. We left his bathroom and hunted for a freecamp. We were just
about to give up when we came across a couple of German campervans on a vacant lot so we
parked beside them for the night. Wed. May 26th. The morning was spent wandering
around Sansouci Park which contains a number of impressive palaces. We visited one called
the New Palace which was OK for a palace. The highlight for me was having to wear big
slipper things over our shoes - to stop damage to the floor. We booked in to a campground just
inside the Berlin city limits. The campground has the feel of an old age home on wheels.
Most of the vans and caravans here look pretty permanent and the people all seem to know
each other. In the morning everyone who passes says 'morgen' to us. We did spot our first
Aussie/Kiwi kombi after a day here - a couple with a rusty yellow van with a Kiwi shaped
from electricians tape. Thur. May 27th. We rode the bus to the s-bahn train
and got into Berlin where we checked out the Egyptian Museum which all the books said
would be free - it wasn't. The highlight was a bust of an Egyptian queen - Nefretiti,
perfectly preserved for several thousand years. From there we went to where all our guide
books said the Amex office should be - but it had moved. We found it in the end and
visited one of biggest department stores which supposedly has 1000 types of Wurst - we
didn't count them but did buy some brotwurst and sauerkraut for a proper German dinner. In the afternoon we 'checked out' the
Checkpoint Charlie museum - the site of a point where people could cross over between east
and west Berlin through the wall. It had various displays about repression and freedom and
detailed accounts of how people escaped over, through and under the wall by balloon,
tunnel and hidden in cars, suitcase and any other way you could think of. Fri. May 28th We concentrated on East Berlin today,
starting at the Pergamon museum which had a cool headphone tour describing an amazing
Turkish altar, the gate of Ishtar (previously part of the hanging gardens), and many other
archaeological finds. After we'd O.Ded on ancient stuff we walked towards the Brandenburg
Gate - possibly Berlin's most recognizable structures and another crossing point in the
Berlin wall. These days it's the site of a market of Russians selling war memorabilia and
those wooden dolls which stack inside each other (Matrushka dolls). The difference between
East and West is still visible in the architecture although things are changing rapidly as
the new Germany reconstructs, repairs and clean the old buildings of the DDR. There is a
massive rebuilding effort in progress. We also found the last big piece of
the Berlin wall which still stands on the East of the city by the river Spree. I pulled
off a tiny piece as a souvenir. The wall has been turned into a giant gallery with huge
modern art on one side and marvelous graffiti on the other. Our day finished at the
Turkish market in an area called little Istanbul where we bought fruit and a huge bag of
spinach. Sat 29th May After much debate over whether to go
to Dresden in Germany or to head to Warsaw in Poland we left our old people retirement
caravan park and drove south to Dresden. Back in the 1700's Dresden must have been a
spectacular place. With the neglect of the East Germans the place is a little run down and
dirty but with a little cleaning the place is sure to be a big draw - it already teams
with tourists. We visited the porcelain museum - rooms of 18th century
porcelain plates, and the Albertium, an art museum which contains the Grun Wald(?) - rooms
of spectacular jewels - very impressive and opulent in the extreme. After Dresden it was time to finally
visit a new country - Poland. We were a little apprehensive as we neared the border
crossing - we didn't know what to expect. This is our first Eastern European country and
the books said a number of different things about currency transactions - currency forms
to be filed in etc. When it was finally our turn, it became an anticlimax. We were ushered
through without even a glance at our passports. Once in Poland we stopped and I went to
change some money at a border exchange place. Poland had just witched to a free market
exchange so I didn't know what to expect. Our books quoted an exchange of 10,000 zlotys to
$US 1 but the current exchange was 16,000 to 1. I changed 200 German Marks and instantly
became a double millionaire!!! 2 million zlotys is what I got. Black marketeers were after
business but I didn't even ask for their exchange rate. It's too risky when you don't what
the currency looks like. We drove towards Wroclaw looking for
a freecamp. Little capitalists have set up roadside bars and restaurants everywhere. I
presume that this would not have been possible a couple of years ago. We laughed at little
stands selling baskets and garden gnomes of all things! Our first purchase was a couple of
ice creams at a roadside stand for 10,000 zlottys each (about 70c). After much indecision
we stopped by an old industrial town in the middle of nowhere. Sun. May 30th We continued driving - partly on the
motorway - made of slabs of cement which caused Vanessa to 'bump' every 15 feet, and on
the side roads which we found smoother and more interesting. I never realized how
religious Poles are. We saw thousands at various places going to, or coming from out of
the church in their Sunday best. Our destination today was Czestochowa (sestokova) -
another religious town like Lourdes, Knock or Fatima with thousands of pilgrims who come
to view the picture called the black Madonna. We crushed into the church with piles
of Poles to see the painting and then scanned the souvenir stands which all sell tacky
religious icons and plastic toys. We checked out a stall selling cassettes - all sorts of
music with even some bootleg top 40 stuff in original looking packaging. We bought a tape
of a well known bank for 15,000 zlotys (less than $US 1) and a postcard for 3,000 zlotys
(20c) and a couple of ice creams and felt very rich. Tonight we are staying in possibly
the cheapest campground of our travels - $6 for the night - a pleasant spot with lots of
space - few people and the manager even spoke English. Mon. 31st May. We got a late start and, threading
our way through groups of children attending their first communion in their white dresses
and little suits, we found the church museum containing an odd collection of religious
bits and pieces. The reason for our visit was to see Lec Walensa's 1983 Nobel Peace Prize
- medal and certificate in a display case along with various awards and decorations he had
received from cities such as the City of London, throughout the world. Curiously, the same
case as his Nobel Peace prize also contained a screwdriver & spanner belonging to him.
We haven't a clue why. We continued south near Krakow where
we stopped at one of our most important Polish destinations - Auschwitz/Birkenau
concentration camps. The camps left an incredible impression on both of us. We had seen
Dachau near Munich but the exhibits at Auschwitz were far more moving. I will never forget
the room containing tons of human hair - cut from victims by the Nazi's to be woven into
'hair cloth'. Revolting as it sounds, the Nazis used all of the personal effects of their
victims. There was a whole room of shoes, another of toothbrushes, and a big case of eye
glasses. These were just a few of the things not sold when the concentration camps were
discovered. Warehouses of belongings were sold overseas and all personal belongings were
confiscated - papers burnt and people sent straight from trains to gas chambers. Helen and I were exhausted after the
experience. We drove on, not wanting to stay near the camps and wondered about the people
who lived right next to the camps now. I assume that they barely give it a second thought.
If everyone could experience the camps there would be no repeat of the holocaust. We found a freecamp by a river
outside a little town called Wadowice. Tues. June 1st Wadowice is the birthplace of Pope
John Paul II. There is the church in which he was baptized and a museum set up in his
former childhood home, run by nuns. (Incidentally, John Paul is not his real name - it's
Karol something. I never knew that before - I guess his name has to be religious one. John
Paul is his stage name!) The museum didn't take long so our next stop was Wezlecka - the
site of the oldest (still working) salt mine in Europe - it's absolutely huge and although
we went on a 4km - 2hr tour, we saw only a fraction of it. Not white as you might imagine,
but rather bleak and dark. Contained within it were carvings and sculpture. One big cavern
took 2 brothers 30 years to create. Our guide was a funny 'stereotypical' Polish guy who
waffled away in Polish non stop for 2 hours while one of the tourists translated bits of
it for us as most of the group didn't even speak Polish. There are so many people in
Poland doing all sorts of very menial jobs long since done away with in the 'West' with
the use of technology. Like the people throughout the mines sitting in the little rooms
minding the museum exhibits and people who sweep the sidewalks at night. Driving around
Krakow we were constantly surprised to see horses ploughing fields and people with sickles
cutting hay. It really seems like a step back in time, but the longer we stay the more we
enjoy it - well I do anyway. Helen is finding the Polish a bit rude - queue jumping seems
a way of life and they rarely say thank you. I accept it as not the people being rude -
it's just a cultural thing. It's just rude compared to what we have been bought up with. We left the salt mines and again
continued south to a town called Zakopane - on the Slovak border at the base of the Tatra
mountains. We took an instant like to the place as we strolled the very happening main
street which (except for the prices) could have been in any western country - ice cream,
pizza and hamburgers, pop music and clothes shops. We wandered past some local craft
stalls and bought a cool Polish box - like a jewelry box for the huge price of $2.25
(35,000 zlotys). The day ended badly however when
Vanessa failed to start. No amount of fiddling of wires would do the trick and we resigned
ourselves to finding a mechanic in the morning. A couple of times since beginning this leg
of our traveling Vanessa had failed to start temporarily so we knew a problem existed but
we couldn't prove it. This time we actually felt relieved as we figured we may get it
fixed or at least find the cause. We stayed where we had parked earlier that day, in the
middle of a Polish craft market which fortunately for us, became quiet quite early. We are
beginning to get accustomed to mechanical problems. Wed. June 2nd. We woke quite early as the market
began setting up. A local 'kombi' owner pointed us to a mechanic 3km down the road and the
tourist place sent us to a mechanic which doesn't exist. We found a Fiat mechanic on our
own, who clinked under Vanessa after borrowing a spanner and after banging around, push
started us to his garage where he pointed us to an Electric Auto mechanic, but when we
arrived, Vanessa started perfectly - bitch! So, with that problem still not resolved, off
we went to the start of our first hike. A little police car rushed up to us as we parked
and told us we had to park 3km away - out of the National park. We guess this was so that
the mini van drivers, and some horse & cart drivers could hassle us for a ride. We
walked. Our hike took us up about 2000 meters to 'Giewont' - an exhausting walk and climb.
We felt a sense of achievement and exhaustion 6 hours later when we got down. We took and
easy option and checked into a nearby campground with dozens of Dutch vans and trailers
and old boce playing Dutch people. Thurs. June 3rd I had read somewhere that Europe's
largest market is held on Thursdays in a place called Nowy Targ, about 30km north of
Zakopane. I like markets - to me it is free entertainment, and much less demanding than
normal sightseeing. A big market always has lots to look at and invariably a few weird
things being sold and weird sellers too. We had planned the last few days so that we could
see the market although non of our books mentioned it. When we got there I couldn't say
for sure that it was the biggest market in Europe but it was definitely big and
interesting - all the usual sort of stuff - clothes but the truckload. Jeans are certainly
common as are T-shirts with anything in English. Yesterday we even saw a guy wearing a
T-shirt which said Liz Claiborne - obviously unaware that it is a female clothes designer.
How embarrassing. Anyway, our purchases from the market consisted of 4 music cassettes by
various people ($1 each), a shopping bag, apples, carrots and a kielbasa from an open fire
for my lunch. We turned down what looked like sheep's cheese, fur hats like Russians wear,
and horses in the horse market. We had some confusion in the parking area - not being able
to figure out how much it was to cost but it worked out O.K and the funny old lady and man
ended up waving and calling 'Goodbye Australia' as we left. In the afternoon we took a cable car
to the top of Kasprowy Werch where we were able to stand with one foot in Slovakia and one
foot in Poland. We got up enough courage to get a photo of Helen with a Polish border
guard. We hiked down as we believed it would only take an hour or so. It took more like
2.5 hours. We got to the bottom finally and left for Krakow. Being late and both being
tired we stopped at a freecamp - a roadside parking area with a little caravan selling
'lody' (ice cream) and 'piwo' (beer) as well as kielbasa. I think they wondered what we
were up to when we decided to spend the night there. Frid. June 4th. We drove into Krakow and found a
campground called 'Camping Krak' described by one of our guidebooks as having all the
charm of a truck stop - but since we like truck stops, that wasn't a turn off. We met an
older English couple as we made our way to Krakow. We had no real aims for Krakow- unusual
for us, so we just wandered around looking at the town, eating ice cream, and being
tourists. Actually the whole town was full of groups of tourists from everywhere. Poland
(the Polish) seem big on trams and we have run into countless busloads of school kids. We
wondered if school kids would have been able to travel at all in the communist days. For lunch we went to a typical Polish
restaurant recommended by our guide books. It was a funny little place in a courtyard with
no name on it's door. An English speaking lady helped us out with the menu - all written
in Polish and Helen ordered cheese perogi while I pointed at the plate of something being
eaten by someone next to me and used my phrase book to get beet(root) soup and strawberry
dumplings. The bill came to 34,000 zlotys (about $2). We absolutely stuffed our faces. Sat. June 5th. We checked out of the campground and
returned to Krakow to send a big pile of postcards and to visit the Wawel Castle and
cathedral which didn't impress us much. For lunch we went to a modern looking pizza place
and ordered way too much yummy pizza and a couple of drinks for the grand total of $6.
After another stroll around the city and more ice cream we headed to Czech. The border
crossing was pretty weird with the Polish guys umming and aahing over the fact that the
passport people didn't stamp me in when we arrived. We got through and I had to run back
across the border to change money. Our resting place for tonight is a
roadside stop on the road to Brno. Helen took pity on a stray moggie (cat) so we fed it a
small can of tuna. Sun. June 6th We left our dirty rest stop and drove
towards Blasko, north of Brno, in search of a series of caves. Our directions were not
very good and we got lost a couple of times before finally arriving at the main cave at
about 1:00pm. Just our luck the cave tour was sold out. Although there were a number of
caves Helen particularly wanted to see the caves with the underground boat ride. We
wandered up the Katterusha caves instead which were quite spectacular with lots of
stalactites and stalagmites and a huge cavern. We had to laugh when they played a long
long piece of classical music to show us how good the acoustics were. It must have taken a
third of the tour. The whole tour was in Czech so we had to guess what was being said. For
lunch we went to the cave restaurant and although a kind waiter tried to translate for us,
we just pointed and hoped. We both had fish - mine was a whole trout and Hel's was breaded
fish. With drinks the bill came to $5. Amazing. In the afternoon we found a wooded
freecamp - next to 'lovers lane' where we spent a very peaceful morning. Mon. June 7th. Hel's kicked me out of bed so we'd
get an early start. She always kicks me out of bed these days. We were in the caves by
8:00am where we had a guided tour on foot with the guide, a young girl, reading the
English version of the tour then giving a whole pile of school kids the Czech version.
Once again the caves (Punkawa) were pretty good for caves - lots of interesting
formations. We have done a lot of caves over the last few years so we are qualified to
judge. The walking tour was followed by a boat ride through the rest of the caves on an
underground river, which was like Pirate of the Caribbean at Disneyland without all the
animated robots. After the tour we started chatting to our guide which was very
interesting. We asked here what it was like now that Czech and Slovakia have split. She
said that before Czechoslovakia was a small country. Now Czech is even smaller. She also
said that the people who supported the president like the split but those against the
president were against the split. We also asked about the differences between before
communist days and now that all of that is over. She said that the shops are full of
things from the west but now there is also a distinction between the rich and the poor.
One other thing about the Czech & Slovakia split. She said there have been lots of
complications with mixed marriages - one from Czech & one from Slovakia. After the caves we drove to Telc a
little town with a cool square surrounded by houses in pastel colors. We raided a little
grocery store and came away with a big bag of groceries for about $10. We sat in the
square and ate fresh bread with cheese and some salami-like substances. We kept going and
found a campground outside a town called Ceske Budjewice also with a square of pastel
colored houses - but bigger. We had dinner in a beer hall. Once
again we picked a couple of things with only a fair idea of what we were ordering and it
turned out O.K gain. 2 meals, 2 deserts and 5 half liter beers all for the grand total of
$9. Incredible. Incidentally this town is where the original Budweiser beer is made so
that is the beer we drank all night. Tues. June 8th. This morning we said goodbye to an
old English couple we had met the previous night, and after changing some money and
calling Oz to check all was well, we visited Cesty Kurmlov which was supposed to be the
prettiest town in Czech. It was O.K but the square was full of cars and not nearly as nice
as others we had seen. The rest of the town was on hills so it was difficult to appreciate
except from the view from the castle. In the afternoon we drove north to Plzen, birthplace
of Pilsner beer. We found a campground by a lake. We decided the city looked very
industrial and couldn't be bothered looking too hard for a freecamp. The campground was
very cheap. About $5.50 and half a litre of beer was only 50c - bargain. Nearly forgot - on the way to Pilzen we towed a Czech camper a couple of miles as they had over heated on a hill. It was pretty weird - we couldn't speak Czech and they couldn't speak English. I wanted to help more but didn't know what to do. They gave us a little bear to say thanks which now sits next to our little Weis Bear in front of Vanessa.
Wed. June 9th Today we drove into Plzen and walked
to the Urquell Pilsner brewery. Plzen is where beer was first brewed hundreds of years ago
- using the pilsner technique I think. It's all a bit vague as I believe the Germans had a
proper brewery before the Czech had built one. Anyway the tour was pretty crap and no free
beer but we did bump into an Aussie couple who we had lunch with - David and Karen. They
were on their way home after having been through various places including Italy, Greece
and Turkey which they enjoyed. They suggested a possible cause for our starting troubles
which we may get checked out in Vienna when we get there in a few days. They had the exact
same symptoms and it turned out to be a little electrical device called a condenser
(attached to the distributor) which caused the problems. The mechanic kept saying it was
the starter motor which is what I thought it was. After lunch we said goodbye and drove
towards Prague. Hels wanted to maybe camp in a place called America so we drove around a
bit till we found a huge gorge - like the Grand Canyon (hence the name) but I didn't want
to leave the car so carried on to the town of Karlstein where after much searching for a
freecamp we took a campground instead. The campground was cheap but very basic - no
showers and ugly toilets but a peaceful spot by a river and near a train station to
Prague. Only 8 Krowns for a 45 minute ride to Prague (about 30 cents). Thurs. June 10th Our first day in Prague - a warm day
but incredibly hot in the sun. We liked the look of Prague - lovely architecture but
absolutely overrun with tourists. We thought Krakow was bad but this was much much worse
as Krakow is quite small in comparison to Prague. We heard hundreds of Americans and the
big department stores were crawling with Germans. There didn't appear to be any locals
shopping in the bigger stores. We had no real aims in the way of sightseeing and were
content to wander around taking in the scene. Making the most of the still relatively
cheap prices, we ate both lunch and dinner at different places in addition to several
pints of beer at a couple of beer halls. Fri. June 11th We've decided to take it easier today
and got up relaxed, hung some washing out and fed the ducks which swim by nearly every
morning in expectation of a few bits of bread. We tried Weet-a-Bix too but didn't get a
big deal of duck satisfaction from that. They obviously prefer bread. We hung about and I
fiddled with the van until Hels got bored and we walked up to the Karlstein Castle which
was 'just another castle' to me. An old German guy came by and
although he knew only a few words of English, and me even less German, we chatted for a
while. In the evening we stopped by the little kiosk and started having a few drinks with
the old German guy, Ramone, a Nicaraguan/Dutch/American guy who we also chatted to, and a
Czech guy who lived down the road. We bean with beer, then the Czech guy bought Vodka and
someone opened a bottle of Champagne and the next thing we knew we were wandering off to
the Czech guy's place - just him, me and Helen. All he could say was 'My son shpeaks
Inglish' and 'You come my house drink vino - Karlstein vino'. So we did and rolled up
already hammered to be met by a less than happy wife - understandably. The Czech guy was
Aloise and his wife was Hanna and for a couple of hours we drank wine and tried through
translation books to talk to them. We left with Helen pissed out of her mind, staggering
and vomiting back to the she continued to vomit into a bucket and said stuff like 'don't
let me die'…. Helen rarely gets drunk so it was a
real novelty. Sat. June 12th. Helen was too hung over to do
anything today so we had a very wet, rainy day in the van until about 3:00pm Hanna and her
daughter Hanna came down and invited us to over as Milan (or Marran as they said it) - the
son who spoke English, was coming over. We rushed off to the shop nearby for chocolates to
take (not really knowing if we were invited to dinner) and showed up at Sebsen hr
(17:00hr). Milan showed up and spent the entire night translating questions for them and
questions from us. We talked about politics (communism, Czech/Slovak) about life in the
U.S compared to Czech, and they even played and showed us Christmas carols- silent night
in Czech. Helen admired some of their pottery and before we knew it Hanna gave us here
biggest piece of the handmade set of hers - a salad bowl. It was very embarrassing. We
were humbled to hear that young people could rarely afford their own house. $35,000 for a
house with average annual incomes of $1200 - $3600 a year!! Before we left we also were
given a beer stein for me and a little of the Karlstein vino. It was probably the highlight of this
trip for us so far. Sun. June 13th After such a big night we didn't feel
up to much so we went into Prague for a while to wander a while - visited an old synagogue
and walked through the main square before returning to the campground, saying farewell to
the nameless old German, to the Bohemian looking Ramone with whom we had shared a couple
of campfires, to a Dutch/Australian women and the owner - Milan. We drove towards Vienna
and are in a rest stop near Brno. Mon. June 14th Continued into Vienna until 'Bang', a
broken clutch cable. We were lucky however and wandered into a dinky little mechanics
workshop with a kombi in it and fortunately the owners wife spoke English - so much
English we had trouble getting a word in to tell here what the problem was. We had to tow
Vanessa in as the starter refused to function. (She was towed behind a Mercedes). While
the mechanics worked we spoke for hours with his wife was great. It got our mind off the
problem. After about 3 hours we left Madre or Vadre and went to Vienna to wander around.
They let us sleep in the van outside the mechanics workshop. Tues. June 15th. We got up early to make sure we could
speak to the mechanics wife about an oil leak which was also worrying us but were
incredibly relieved to find that it was caused by a loose oil filter. At least that's what
they said but it wasn't correct I don't think.) We spent the morning in Vienna at the
Kunchhistomuseum - another 'Mona Winks' tour before having some delicious ice cream and
returning to the mechanics in the afternoon. We found Vienna to be clean and expensive but
figure we could probably spend a couple of days there. The little bill came to $350 - eek.
$150 for a new starter motor, $120 for labor and $44 for the clutch cable. Found a
campground west of Vienna and discovered 2 other kombis - one Aussie and one Kiwi. Linden
and Linda, Craig & Jill (NZ). Wed. June 16th. Spent a couple of hours at a training
session for the Spanish Riding School which for me, is about the most well known thing
about the city. Helen desperately wanted cake and coffee (café and kuchen) so we found a
rather upmarket café where we had white coffee with strudels and for the bargain price of
$12. (ha!) In the afternoon we went to Sigmund Freud's house which had a very lengthy
description of several hundred items in the house. Before returning to the campground we
stopped at the post office to send some postcards and I sent a telegram to Meenu who's
wedding is this weekend. We arrived back at the campground to
find another 2 Aussie vans - one, a Commer van driven by a couple of quiet people from
Perth and the other a Fiat driven by a couple of loud Sydney girls. That evening we had a
rowdy session finishing our special Karlstein vino and our Lemon flavored Vodka from
Czech. It was certainly one of our most memorable nights so far. Thur. June 17th We had a sad farewell to all our
fellow van travelers and went to the Summer Palaces on the outskirts of Vienna. Not being
able to get a tour for 2 hours, we wandered around the gardens in the rain before driving
out towards Salzburg. We looked for ages but couldn't find a decent freecamp despite come
lovely scenery by a couple of lakes and rivers and high Alps. We settled for a very noisy
freecamp and put in our ear plugs. Fri. June 18th We were glad that we had decided to
take a detour off the motorway as we found some wonderful sights near a couple of lakes.
We stopped in a lakeside town called Hallstadt which was spectacular, dug into soaring
cliffs and many houses built right on the edge of the lake. We took a look in the Beinhaus
- the house of bones which was another of those gruesome sights never seem in Australia or
the U.S. It was a room with the bones of town citizens over years and years. Each scull
had the person's name and drawing on it. Hels had the brilliant idea of hiring a paddle
boat for an hours which we did, wallowing in the glorious sun shine. In the afternoon we
found the famous salt mines and all had to wear white overalls for the decent which wasn't
nearly s good as the salt mines in Poland but they did have a couple of cool slides. Our camp tonight is a rest stop near
Salzburg. Sat. June 19th Spent a full day in Salzburg which
must be another of those places on every tourist's European itinerary because, like
Prague, the place was crawling with tourists. Mainly American by the sound of it. It may
have seemed more touristed than in reality as the streets of Salzburg are narrow, but
fortunately without cards or traffic - only busloads of old tourists to slow us down. Our
first stop was Mozart's birthplace with a pretty typical museum. I would rather get a
detailed account of his life than a long description about some trivial possession he used
200 years ago. After some ice-cream for Hels and
strudel for me, we bought lunch from the market stalls - fresh bread, gouda cheese, some
sort of meat and a bag of cherries. Then it was a hot trudge up the slopes for a look at
the castle and a tour through some of the rooms. My motto is 'you've seen one castle,
you've see them all'. We found the T-shirt Cathy H. wanted with 'No kangaroos in Austria'
on it. After our enjoyment of Salzburg was
exhausted, we drove out to a park where we realized for a few hours before returning to
the previous night's truck stop which appears to be an unofficial campsite. 25 caravans we
counted tonight!! Sun. June 20th We saved breakfast for later and
drove to Berchestgarden then caught a bus to Hitler's Eagles Nest - a building constructed
on top of a mountain by blasting a road into the cliffs. The place was used to entertain
guests. These days there is nothing to see as it is just a restaurant and there is even
less to see when the clouds come in. A big (and expensive) disappointment. We drove out of
Austria, then into Germany, then back to Austria and out again - through Munich and
towards Fussen near Mad King Ludwig's castle. We stopped at a campground for our
first shower in 4 days - heaven. On the way Helen noticed a large pool of oil under the
van. It is difficult if we have a serious problem or not. We may have to stop at a
mechanics again for an appraisal. Mon. June 21st. Visited the Neweshtein Castle which
was actually quite impressive but a little difficult to appreciate properly with a 'mob'
guided tour of mainly Americans who tended to distract us from the castle itself. We left
Fussen and drove back through Austria into Italy. The are near the border in the Alps and
the first few hours into Italy were pretty spectacular with sheer cliffs and the sides of
the hills covered in grape vines and fruit trees. There were no free camps / rest stops
on the motorway so we left onto the side road where we eventually found an atmospheric,
albeit noisy, spot right next to a vineyard. Tues. June 22nd The motorway cost us $10 for a few
hours. We had been told they were expensive but were not sure what that meant. After a few
hours driving into, then out of one small town after another on the side roads. $10 didn't
seem that expensive. The big towns take ages to get through an we weren't interested in
doing any sightseeing along the way. We just wanted to get to Venice. Anyway, we drove to
Venice and found the campground Famisa, but the sea across from the main island of Venice.
I never knew that Venice was an island surrounded by other lesser known islands such as
Lido - the scene of one long beach. We me a van called 'Mac' - Simon and Kate from Perth
who we had last seen in Vienna. They arrived about 1/2hr before we did. We all (us, Simon & Kate) went
into Venice together, taking a boat which was pleasant. St. Marco (St. Mark in English)
Square is quite spectacular and after a few hours wandering the streets and canals
(particularly the nontouristed areas) we decided it was the most attractive city we have
seen in Europe so far. Especially for such a large place. Wed. June 23rd Another day in Venice after saying
farewell to Simon & Kate for a second time. We did another Mona Winks tour through the
art museum called the Academia. I'm becoming blasé about art museums because after so
many, everything looks the same - Titian, Tintaretto ad nauseum. Helen is determined to do
every tour in the book and ended up doing the Doge Palace by herself while I found an
extremely large bottle of red vino to take back with us. In the evening I attempted to make
conversation with a couple of Aussie girls who were unusually reserved for Aussie
travelers. One of them had adopted an abandoned dog in Greece nine months ago and is
planning to take her back to Australia with her after 8 months in quarantine - 6 months in
England and 2 in Australia. The do called piglet is an absolute terror and makes our dog
in Oz, Luke look positively docile. Thur. June 24th We've decided to try and be in Sienna
for the IL Palio, a famous horse race which is on July 2nd, so to kill time
we've decided to see a place called Urbino which gets a big rap by Let's Go. We drove down
the coast from the campground (which incidentally is near a town called Malcontenta -
where everyone who lives there is unhappy!) and stopped near a beach for lunch. Vanessa
decided not to start after lunch so I guess the starting problem isn't fixed after all.
Must be the condenser like we told the mechanics in Vienna. I pushed and Helen roll
started - first time thank god! We drove for hours and we were told by a motorist that
there was 'mucho olio' leaking from Vanessa. I kept going and we found a
campground 2km from Urbino. From here Urbino looks like a typical walled Spanish town. We
will see tomorrow. This campground costs $20 a night and only has one other car in it. It
does have Cuckoo birds though which is cool - and fireflies too. Fri. June 25th While I was having a shower Helen
decorated the van with balloons and gave me several presents to open which was fun -
almost making up for last year when she did nothing. We had a slow day in Urbino, visiting
the palace in the morning which 'Let's Go' said was great - but wasn't. Then we had a
birthday lunch for me. I had a delicious pizza and Hel's had a cannelloni which she
enjoyed. I ordered too much vino so it was hard work to finish it, and I immediately felt
like a siesta which we took on some park benches followed by a yummy ice cream - the best
we've tasted. We followed up with a boring walk
through Raphael's house where we learnt nothing and then a had our daily cappuccino. Sat. June 26th. We got an early start to drive to
Florence where we arrived about 1:00pm - a spectacular campsite overlooking Florence. We
met another Aussie kombi couple - Don and Rita. Rita is Italian and translated some stuff
for us so we could talk to mechanics about our oil leak. During the afternoon we did our
first tour of Florence - the church and campanile and a long walk around the streets in
the sunshine. We stopped twice for gelati from suggested ice-cream places. I think Florence was a little bit of
an anticlimax after Venice as Venice had exceeded our expectations and Florence had the
reputation of being on e of the best cities in Europe. Certainly for art, Florence is a
central city -being the home of Michelangelo & Leonardo Di Vinci among others at
various times. In the evening we drank a couple of bottles of wine with Don and Rita and
heard how they had shaken hands with the pope. Sun. June 27th A quiet day in Florence. Again it was
hot in the sun which slowed us. We did a tour of the Uffizi art gallery which contained
lots of Renaissance paintings. Part of the gallery has been closed for the past month as
the Mafia set off a car bomb (in a kombi) just nearby, destroying a number of art works
and killing a family. Of course we had some gelati - and a bread & cheese sandwich for
lunch before peetering out early and lobbing at the campground at about 3:30pm for a quiet
night. Mon. June 28th Another of those days I'd rather
forget. We drove to Pisa and took the obligatory photo of the tower which is actually
quite interesting to look at. People can no longer climb it - for obvious reasons when you
see it. It is currently tilting at 1-2mm a year and I don't see how they will be able to
stop it eventually falling. Without intervention I reckon it would have already fallen.
After visiting the tower we drove around in circles looking for a mechanic which we
eventually found on the outskirts of Pisa. they were very unhelpful basically brushing us
off saying just keep adding oil - it's not worth fixing. Either a gasket near the clutch
or the engine is crap. All this was determined without even lifting the van off the ground
or without anyone climbing under to have a look. Arseholes. We drove back to Florence and the oil
light cam on as we rolled into the campground. The highlight of the day was meeting a
couple of Kiwi's in a van nearby - Steve and Andrea who had a very similar oil leak to us.
The oil was actually plastered all over the back of their van and they had been fined 75
pounds in Spain for a dirty number plate. They had also broken down in Barcelona and paid
$us 1000 for a new front axle. Eeek! We also spoke to a strange guy called
Neil who had no money and had been on the dole for the past 5 years. Tues. June 29th. Helen and I decided to do different
things today. She went off to visit the Bargello Sculptures museum and the Academia (with
Michelangelo's 'David' sculpture) while I hung around the van and took it easy. In the
afternoon I wandered into Florence to meet Helen and collect our mail being held at the
Amex office. We picked up 2 letters and a birthday card from mum, a letter from A+J and a
pile of stuff from Helen's mum. Drove to San Gimiano, a pretty, quiet
little walled town where we spent the night in a car park. Wed. June 30th. Drove to Sienna and bumped into Steve
and Andrea who we had met in Florence. Settled into a campground with a lovely big pool.
We walked around Sienna and checked out the main square where preparations were in
progress for Il Palio, a no rules horse race around the square. In the morning we levered ourselves
out of bed and into the city of Sienna to see a trial race which was very exciting. We got
a video of a fall during the race and we had a great spot on the rail near the start where
we watched one horse spend ages backing away from the start. The trial itself (after the
false starts) lasted only a minute or two. The afternoon was a real lazy one
spent eating, talking and a swim in the pool. Fri. July 2nd The day of the Il Palio. Our books
suggested arriving at 2:pm which we did to claim a spot next to the fence. We had to stay
there for the next 6 hours in the sunshine until the race at 8:pm. The in-field where we
were, was free but the seats cost incredible amounts of money - over $100 so everyone
crushed in the in-field with us. We tried talking to a French family to pass the time and
their little girls were keen to find the name of every object we had in English. Before
the race there was a lead up parade with people in traditional costume in armor, horses
and very clever flag wavers who tossed these very big flags into the air and caught them
again. The race was again hampered by one feisty horse who refused to go to the start,
followed by a couple of false starts. Once they were finally off, the race
was a bit of a disappointing anti-climax as most horses fell or lost their riders and one
horse had to be destroyed after breaking a leg. Only 4 out of 10 horses finished. We never
figured out who won either due to the confusion after the race. Sat. July 3rd Steve, Andrea & us did a convoy
down to Rome on the motorway. We had to stop a couple of times to put oil in the van and
get drinks. The oil leak was extremely bad by this stage - 2 liters of oil for 100km. When
we stopped for petrol, an odd guy came up to us and started telling us in broken English
about how he fought in WWII with Aussies and Kiwis and how he still remembers how to speak
English. We only understood about every 10th word. We found the campground eventually
after taking the wrong turn a couple of times. Unbelievably, we met a Californian couple
who shipped their kombi from the east coast of the U.S to England. We also met two other
Kiwi couples with whom we spent several hours talking to over the next couple of days. Sun. July 4th. It was a hot day in Rome today. We
got out of the Coliseum tube stop and were warned as we got out of the station to beware
of the gypsies. A Dutch woman actually pointed them out to us so we were watching them
check out tourists waiting to cross the road. I tried to warn a Japanese guy about a gypsy
who was bout to pick his pockets when a scuffle broke out and Steve grabbed one gypsy, I
grabbed one (pregnant) girl and we managed to get a camera case back off a gypsy girl
before she pissed off with it - great introduction to Rome. The Coliseum was spectacular and has
lots of interesting history. Much better in person to see than on T.V and in pictures. We
wandered around the Forum area - where lots of ruins have been unearthed. It was also the
place where Mark Anthony did the 'Friends, Romans and Countrymen" speech. We did
another Mona Winks tour which helped bring the place into perspective. Everyone started
running out of steam from the heat. We found the Spanish steps and the Trevi Fountain and
some much needed ice cream before heading home. Rome is a huge city with lots of
magnificent historic and spectacular buildings. Not a compact friendly little place. It is
certainly a great European city. Mon. July 5th We decided it was time to see a
mechanic about our chronic oil leak. We wandered around to a mechanic suggested by the
woman at the campground. He refused at first and tried to palm us off on some other
mechanics who refused to deal with us. We pleaded our position with him and he agreed to
take the van tomorrow. Great. He doesn't fill us with confidence as he doesn't really know
what the problem is but people keep telling us that the engine is basic, so we hope he
will figure it out. In the after noon we went to St. Peters Basilica which is huge but
fairly empty. Our second barbie in 2 days. We
bought chicken and cooked it - delicious with a salad. Tues. June 6th Helen played boss today to get us out
by 8am so we could get tickets for the papal audience at 9 at the basilica for tomorrow.
Then it was time to do a tour of the Vatican museums which include the Sistine Chapel. The
museum included rooms designed (paintings at least) by Raphael. The supposed highlight of
course was the Sistine Chapel painted by Michelangelo lying flat on his back over 4 years
which nearly killed him. Michelangelo was also the designer of St. Peters Basilica
although he died before it was ever completed. I nearly forgot to mention the funny
Swiss guards who surround the Vatican and the basilica. They are very strict about not
wearing shorts or sleeveless shirts and when we were going in to get tickets to see the
pope they even told me to tuck in my shirt!! We had to get back to the campground
to take Vanessa in to see Danilo the local mechanic. Tonight we are staying in a caravan
that the campground rents - luxury compared to Vanessa. He think it will be ready tomorrow
night - maybe. Wed. July 7th. Off to see the pope this morning with
lots of little Italian women in black. We got seats right at the back of a very large
auditorium and waited for an hour or so until he appeared walking down the isle about 25
feet from us. All the big groups were mentioned by either the pope or his helpers and
included lots of people from Poland, several groups from the U.S and people from places in
all corners including Indonesia, Korea, Puerto Rico etc. The Spanish speaking people were
very vocal. The pope gave his weekly blessing in 6 or 7 languages and wished us happy
traveling. We followed up our bread & cheese
lunch with a walk to the Parthenon - the best ancient building in Rome, dating from 120
A.D. Quite spectacular - a round room with a huge dome with a hole in the roof. Incredible
to think how little technology people had back then when looking at the amazing structure.
We walked to the Spanish steps and Andrea wanted another milkshake and toilet stop. I had
to change money to pay for the mechanic so I considered the worst case and got $750. Then it was off to another of those
gruesome sights found only in Europe. It was the cemetery of 4000 monks bones artistically
arranged on the walls and ceiling. Once again Helen was grossed out especially by the
bodies handing from the walls. We headed home after that gruesome spot and found out the
van was ready. Danilo bought it over - the damage was $160 for a $10 oil seal behind the
clutch - sounds like the same bit we replaced in Holland last year. Pizza for dinner. Thur. July 8th. Our time in Rome was up. Andrea and
Steve decided to come and see Pompeii with us so we set out in a convoy south down the
motorway with us in the lead. No matter how slowly I went, Steve's van could not keep up
and soon after, the flashed their lights and we stopped. Their van was losing power so we
cruised into s service area down the road. Fortunately it turned out to be nothing more
than a faulty accelerator pedal which Steve was able to fix temporarily a few times on the
way down. We got a mosquito ridden campground
with no hot showers and set off in the cool of the evening to wander the ruins of Pompeii
the town covered by ashes from Mount Vesuvious erupting back in 79A.D. I think we all
found it very interesting as the buildings have been beautifully preserved. Even some of
the wall paintings still exist, and sculpture and statues have been left in the gardens.
It's a huge place and could only be visited with a map and guide book which fortunately we
had. It was our last evening with Steve
& Andrea so we swapped addresses and started to feel sad about saying goodbye after
being with them for 10 days. We have enjoyed it a great deal especially after chatting to
couple after couple and then saying bye the following day. Frid. July 9th. We wished the others farewell and
after telling campground owner about his mozzies we headed to Bari while Steve and Andrea
turned for home via Venice, Switzerland, and France, having decided they don't have enough
money to go on much longer. We drove straight to Bari between yelling and hitting each
other. It was one of those days and we had a magnificent barney in the car. The drivers in Bari, as near Naples
& Pompeii, are awful, tooting constantly, racing past, cutting in and generally being
very rude and dangerous. We made it to the port by luck rather than good planning and
found the ferry terminal which was disorganized. It took me 2 hours to buy a ticket for a
boat to Corfu that evening. At about 5:pm they started boarding which was another example
of complete chaos. We didn't get on till 7:30 and the boat left at 8:30. Strangely we were allowed to sleep in
our van on the deck and after chatting to some Aussies form Melbourne we hopped into
Vanessa for a peaceful night on the ferry to the island of Corfu - Greece (country 21). Sat. July 10th The unloading at Corfu was almost
organized (incredible) and almost immediately we were besieged by people shoving leaflets
for campgrounds through our window. We drove along the coastline and found a lovely
peaceful spot right beside our own private(almost) beach where we spent most of the day
sun baking, swimming, eating and sleeping. Lovely! Sun. July 11th Since I had spent most of the
previous day in the sun, I was well and truly burnt all over and had to keep covered, but
we wanted to see another beach. This is an island after all, so we drove for ages and
finally found a beach called sunset beach on the NW tip with huge white cliffs and a
reasonable beach where we spent most of the day with me under the umbrella. In the evening we spent about 3 hours
looking for a freecamp and finally found a turn off on a road near a busy touristy town
absolutely full of English - Benitsis or something it was called. Not a local anywhere.
Even the bars were stuffed with British and the restaurants served 'Full English
Breakfasts' and 'Sunday Roast with Yorkshire Pudding' It was particularly weird to find so
many British as they don't travel much. Just it seems to islands with lots of other
British. Mon. July 12th Bought a ferry ticket for the
mainland and a couple of hours later we were on mainland Greece. WE spent the next 6 hours
winding our way around the coast which was pretty and lots of scenic spots but a bit tough
on Vanessa. Eventually when we'd had enough we stopped at a cool spot on a pebble beach
with some campers and one other van. The ideal freecamp!! For dinner we ate roasted corn from a
roadside stand and earlier in the day we had melon from a roadside fruit lady. Tues. July 13th. Continued towards Athens, stopping a
the sight of some Greek ruins in a town called Delphi. It was definitely a place which
required lots of imagination as most of it was just rubble except for a theater, a stadium
and part of one temple. Finally arrived in dusty Athens and
after a couple of wrong turns, found a campground where we got talking to a young British
couple - Paul and Babs. At Delphi, the guy at a petrol station told me he had a brother in
Melbourne but as he knew no more English and I still can't say hello in Greek, we didn't
get much further. We are finding Greece much better
money wise after Italy. Everything seems cheap. Icy cold beer at the campground bar is
only $1. Wed. July 14th We got up a little later than normal - but only by the clocks. we hadn't realized that Greece is one hour time difference to Italy and the rest mainland Europe. So, with our bodies still a bit behind, we found our way into Athens for the first time. My immediate reaction was that the place is very interesting. It certainly isn't clean but it has a real atmosphere. It feels like a place that is actually lived in rather than the usual clean city that just looks like the one before. It feels more like Morocco than it does any other European capital. We collected mail at Amex - 2 letters for Helen and then wound our way up to the Acropolis - a high point with the rubble of lots of old temples and the Pathenon - one of the worlds best preserved ancient monuments - even without the pieces now in the British Museum. The surrounding area has been worn treacherously smooth with the millions of tourists who have tramped the same way we did over the last 2 thousand years. The Acropolis is another of those 'must sees' like the coliseum in Rome Eiffel Tower in Paris. In the early afternoon we wandered
around the flea market which is really just loads of souvenir shops selling the same mass
produced stuff which still managed to tempt us. During the day we sampled these round
bread roll things covered in seeds which Helen enjoyed, some more roasted corn on the cob
which was yuck!, and I got a gyros from a McDonalds-like place called 'Pita Pan', which
had a delicious garlic yogurt sauce. Thur. July 15th A mixed day today - first it was off
to the National Archeological Museum which we found difficult to appreciate. It was full
of statues and grave stones from as long ago as 600B.C. Remarkable really. After our taste
of culture it was time to fart around attempting to find a place to store the van - we
went to Piraceaus and spoke to the tourist office and then the port police who couldn't
help at all. Then a guy who was in with the Port Police drove us to a couple of parking
places who couldn't or wouldn't help us. So we gave up and bought a ticket for a ferry to
Santorini which leaves in a couple of days. We are both a little anxious about backpacking
but I'm sure we will figure it out in no time. Fri. July 16th Today we spent most of the day in
preparation for our departure on the ferry tomorrow. We bought a little camping stove and
some food for the trip and got some more travelers cheques. Then we collected the first 3
rolls of film from the trip from a pretty good photographers place recommended to us by
the tourist office. In the evening we packed our backpacks and spoke briefly to a Kiwi
kombi couple called John and Sharon and their van called Beluga. Sat. July 17th We didn't sleep well as we were both
anxious not to miss our 8am ferry to Santorini. We parked the car in a spot used for long
term parking by the campground then we headed off to Port Piraeus . The ferry was
incredibly crowded - all seats were occupied and all possible floor space was also crammed
with bodies of backpackers stretching themselves out. The boat stopped at Paros, and Naxos
and Ios before Santorini - 11 hours later. Our first sights of Santorini were
several towns perched precariously on the edge of precipitous cliffs. The island basically
gained it's present shape when a volcanic eruption blew the place to bits a couple of
thousand years ago. As soon as the ferry docked there were dozens of people hawking rooms
on various parts of the island. It was complete chaos. A young boy showed us pictures of
rooms on Perissa Beach (mentioned in Let's Go) and he said they were 1 minute from the
beach so after some indecision he lowered the price from 500 drachmas to 4000 (about $20)
which we accepted and were escorted to a minibus with a few other groups of backpackers
where we were driven to the Pension Roberto. Not exactly on the beach, but luxury compared
to the van, with it's own bathroom and a private porch. For dinner we strolled the main town
area and had a dinner of mousaka and swordfish for a grand total of $10. Sunday July 18th A lazy day today. First a stroll
along the black volcanic sand beach followed by breakfast/lunch and a siesta. Then, when
it was supposed to be getting cooler we caught a bus to the largest town on the island -
Thira where we got some magnificent views and had gyros for dinner. Mon. July 19th. We got the bus to Thira this morning
and checked into a youth hostel which was half the price f the pension (about $5 each). In
the afternoon we decided to do a tour to the volcano on a nearby island and to see the hot
springs. It was a bit of a disappointment as there wasn't must to see at the volcano -
just some volcanic rock from the eruption in 1950. No lava or smoke at all! The hot
springs were less than we had expected too, actually being near the shore, but in the sea
so the hot water just mixed with the cold water, the result being like a luke warm bath in
the sea. In the evening we watched a video of
Saturday Night Fever at the youth hostel and laughed at the 70's glitz. Weird to think it
was very cool at the time. Tues. July 20th. We booked a 12:30 ferry to Rhodes and
spent the rest of the day pretty much just whiling away the hours. We went to OIA a the
far end of the island which was very spectacular and wandered around and around Thira
buying food. We saw 2 dogs stuck together in a very strange way (joined at the bum), and
at about 10:00pm we went to the port to sit amongst hundreds of other backpackers waiting
for boats. We met, and got talking to Roberto - the son of the owner of Robertos Pensions
where we stayed in Perissa. We talked about a strange assortment of things including the
number of donkeys (mules) in Mexico and about how he had wanted to import a kangaroo from
Australia to Santorini. The boat was very late and we set
sail about 3:am, claiming enough seats so we could lie down and have a very interrupted
sleep. Wed. July 21st The ferry stopped at Crete about 7:am
and continued to Rhodes while we dozed and read and ate. Once again at Rhodes, as soon as
we got off the boat a guy offered us a room (3500DK - about $16) in the old city. A room
in an interesting part of town but a lumpy mattress. He tried to get 4000/night when we
said we'd stay 1 night and see about a second, but I refused. We wandered the old town and suddenly
found ourselves in 'tourist central' - dozens of restaurants and souvenir shops. Thur. July 22nd We bought a ticket to Israel and got
some more money before we explored the old town - the palace and an archeological museum
inside the old crusader hospital. We're not sure what 'hospital' used to mean in the days
of the crusaders as there were lots of guys called hospitallers which had nothing to do
with medical wards. In the afternoon we collected photos that we had developed as Helen's
camera seems a bit strange and we were worried it might be kaput. The photos seem O.K. We wandered around the pretty port
area and saw the spot where the Colossus of Rhodes once stood (destroyed by an earthquake
in 700 A.D). It seemed to be a precursor of the statue of liberty - but a guy rather than
a woman with a torch. Fri. July 23rd. After a minor (major) run in with the
owner of the pension who wanted us to leave early, we headed to the port to wait for our
boat to Haifa (Israel). I got talking to a couple from Holland - Steve & Kellly (Kelly
is American & Steve is British) and a couple of girls - one from Denmark & 1 from
Oz. We tossed up whether to sleep on deck or inside and decided to try inside initially. I
slept curled up across some seats while Helen started on the floor and moved to an outside
bench before returning back inside early in the morning. Sat. July 24th We arrived in Limassol - Cyprus at
about 12pm and had 8 hours ashore to explore which we found was more than enough as all
the shops were closed. There were a couple of interesting things we noticed: first, they
drive on the left unlike most of the rest of Europe. The currency was pounds and cents
which was an interesting combination and there definitely seemed to be some connection
with England at some point as everything seems that way - the license plates on the cars
are the same as England - there were Nat. West & Barclays banks and I was even able to
buy a can of Bitter Lemon which I haven't seen since the U.K. Certainly the place must
gets it's fair share of British tourists. A+J had been there for their last holiday. We
wandered the empty streets and killed a few hours on the shore front. |
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