On our way home!

Tuesday 29th May - We awoke bright and early and after breakfast at the hotel I was getting stuff organised in the motorhome when I felt it rocking slightly. Lorraine was obviously in good spirits I thought and looked outside expecting to see Lorraine jumping up and down on the tow bar!. With no one there I got out and not only was the motorhome rocking but the ground I was standing on now started to rock violently and I had to watch my balance. Suddenly girls from an adjacent office ran outside screaming and the staff from the hotel ran outside with the owners shouting at everyone to get out. For the first time in my life (And hopefully the last) I was experiencing a real earthquake and things suddenly started to get very scary. After about 15-20 seconds the ground stopped shaking and a calm was then broken by alarms of different types going off in the distance. Where was Lorraine & Bradley I suddenly thought and ran to our ground floor bedroom window only to be met by Lorraine and Bradley with a big smile. As Lorraine had been coming up a spiral staircase from deep inside the hotel nothing had been felt apart from an exclamation " I wondered why I tripped up when coming up the stairs"!. Anyway, we were all safe again after our second earthquake only this time is was nearer and a lot more violent. Not being above the epicentre thankfully there appeared no damage to buildings or persons nearby but we could see and hear the emergency vehicles hurrying about.
After the staff had asked us if we were OK and there was nothing obvious we could do we headed towards the Autostrada and made a hurried retreat out of the area. Another strange thing was that the Satellite navigation was acting really weird and we had already made a wrong turn but thankfully the further we got away the better that got.
All I can say was that it was the most strange experience I have ever had. You can't explain the feeling until you experience it for yourself but I'm hoping that will not happen again. Two earthquakes and a serious motorway accident is enough for one week so no more incidents before we get back please!.
PS. Crossed into France today and immediately found our favourite flan patisserie together with better roads and driving.. see you all soon!

The Mont Blanc tunnel is in sight!

We finally got the OK from the Italian assessors today after they examined the motorhome and confirmed that we can drive back under our own steam in the motorhome. This was the decision we wanted as it means we can return with all our equipment (And worldly possessions!) It will be a lot easier with Bradley as well with his passport regulation for getting back into the UK.

From the outside the motorhome looks OK but its the inside of the habitation area that is fairly trashed. The safety of the chassis is fine though and that means we can drive it safely. The gas is still connected so we can still cook and the front lounge area is untouched so if the satellite is still working we can catch up on the british TV again!.. Campsites will give us showers etc so all in all it could be a lot worse.

The smart car and trailer will probably be disposed of here in Italy as its cheaper to do that than the insurance company to pay for it to be transported back.

We hope to be around Calais by the weekend and subject to getting Bradley to a vet for his legal treatment we hope to set foot in the UK by Sunday or Monday. The motorhome then has to be returned to the dealer we brought it from and then we hope to be given a car to get back to Devon.

Whilst travelling I suspect internet access will be limited but we will be able to text on the european mobile number (Cant wait to get the iPhone up and running again, predictive texting is really pants!!) 

Will keep you all posted

Fingers Crossed..

Yes, we are still here in 'Dodge' as we have now affectionately named it but being looked after really well. The Italian stamp club have descended on the hotel for the annual Expo in Verona so it's busy in the evenings and quiet in the day. When we walk Bradley we often go into the small centre of the town and the locals are getting to know us now waving as they pass in their cars.
As we had two vehicles there were two insurances in force and the grey area was always going to be the Smart car whilst being towed on the trailer, don't ask why but UK & European insurance policies on what they will and will not cover are surprisingly not very straight forward and as Piccolo did not have his wheels on the 'tarmac' at the time and being driven I could see a few issues arising. Apparently this scenario of a car being towed on a trailer behind a motorhome hadn't been tested regarding a claim but what was clear was that the full admission of responsibility for the accident by the offending driver was going to make things so much easier.
After I had explained the circumstances to the insurers of the Smart Car and they had seen my photos and driving video it only took a few hours for them to write the car off, accept the claim (Phew!) and give us a reference number. Within 6 hours they had arranged recovery of the car (Still attached to trailer) back to the UK.
The insurers of the Motorhome seemed to be dragging their heels as the week went on, apparently they had advised their Italian office on the Monday (21st) who were going to get a local examiner to examine the motorhome before a decision could be made as to how we were going to return to the UK. This we have to adhere to to keep things valid with our policy. We found out later this week that the Italian side had given the claim a low priority so after a few choice words things are now moving quicker. A motorhome is made up basically of two units, the chassis and front driving cab and then the actual big habitation area which is then attached to the bit you drive by the motorhome manufacturer. It is the habitation area that is so badly damaged inside but there is a small possibility that after a lot of gaffer tape repairs we may be able to still drive it home which would be great with Bradley and all our equipment and personal effects. If the examiner says this is not possible then the Roadside Assistance (AA) part of the policy will swing into action and organise a hire car for us. Unfortunately this will be an average saloon size so we will cram as much in as we can and the remainder will have to come back in the motorhome with whoever recovers it. Either way the motorhome will end up at the dealer we bought it from in Somerset where it will then be re-examined and the decision made as to whether it can be economically repaired. If it can't then this will be written off like Piccolo and our policy covers a brand new replacement thank goodness.
Another bolt on to the policy we took thankfully was Drivers Legal Protection which basically pick up the pieces and claims for anything that isn't covered under your normal insurance policy. This would have covered the smart car but will now cover the trailer, damaged possessions and any additional hotel expenses etc etc.
So, there we have it still lots of options but hopefully we can be on the road by Tuesday (29th) and then it's the now quicker (Thanks to DEFRA) process of getting Bradley to a VET on the way back to get his treatment & passport stamped before we get to the Channel Tunnel.
Once back in the UK we thankfully have places to stay and depending on how quickly the motorhome side gets sorted will depend on where we go from there.
Ciao!
PS.. The Italian food is fantastic and Serena who runs an award winning patisserie in the town makes the most divine mini pastries and sweets to have with your coffee or beer. Yes, the patisseries all have off licences over here, must have a word with Ben & Lindsey when we get back!.. xx

Goodbye Piccolo

We never imagined that both Maximus the motorhome and Piccolo the Smart car would be disabled at the same time. Verona and the great lakes are not far away and we can't even go out for the day!. However we have heard back from the insurance company that cover Piccolo and they have decided to write the car off. Its no surprise as sat on his trailer he took the full impact and looks in a pretty sorry state. He will get collected soon from the pound next to us by a European insurance salvage company and brought back to the UK. We had become very attached and taking a small car was definitely the way to see all the inner cities and wonderful sights we have seen so far. Whether we use this kind of set up again is now in the 'think tank' for future visits.
Our other insurance company are taking their time sorting out the examination of the Motorhome so will let you now more on this soon.
Arrive derci Piccolo!

The Great British Menu

Following the 'minor inconvenience' we're both trying to keep ourselves busy and enjoying larger spaces, restaurants and big showers which other camp site folk haven't used before us! The downside is the small town we're staying in, Nogarole Rocca (now affectionately known as Dodge City) is, by the admission of the locals, probably the quietest most sleepiest small town in Italy so it means with only the Italian equivalent of Deal or no Deal, Beadle's about (not all will remember that one!) and You've been framed, entertainment is a little on the lean side! Like all businesses around here they are family owned and run giving them a nice friendly atmosphere. Our hotel is run by two brothers Thomas and Luca and we believe their Dad is the chef. They are passionate about their restaurant and their attention to detail and one night on passing reception en route to the restaurant we found Luca up to his elbows in dictionaries with a rather puzzled look on his face. Either Luca or Thomas will always translate their dinner menu to us so Luca thought it was about time after our arrival that his menu be translated into English. On finishing our dinner Luca was found still in situ with even more books and a look of complete bewilderment informing us that he had 'cow' (steak) and 'mice' (maize) on his menu so it was time to offer our translation services to which I'm sure he accepted before the offer of assistance was finished. Two days later 'cow', 'mice' and 'braised donkey' (apparently fattening; who knew?) no longer appeared on the menu and their new 'English' version was now born.

Bradley has met the hotel's family dog Daisy (Shih Tzu) but she is still unsure of his direct and somewhat typical 'Spaniel' approach. It makes her jump in the air every time he approaches her, fingers crossed they'll be getting on by the end of the week!

No other updates at present, we'll keep you posted.

Ciao…x

Video taken from on board driving camera

Click on link below
http://youtu.be/JHGe31aLOBA

And now an earthquake!

Sunday 20th May 2012 - We went down for breakfast in the hotel this morning to find everyone very excited but concerned. Did you feel it? said the waitress, we seemed to be the only ones who had slept through an earthquake 6 on the richter scale that had happened down the road from us at the next town. I was aware of what I thought was a rumble of thunder during the early hours but went straight back to sleep again. Lorraine and Bradley didn't stir at all!
So sad that there have been fatalities and that so many of the fragile and beautiful buildings we have seen have been damaged. Apparently there was a lot of shaking here in Nogarole Rocca but we weren't aware of anything but it appears nobody hurt and no damage to buildings.
Tomorrow we will get a better idea of what is happening so will keep you posted.

A minor inconvenience!

Friday 18th May 2012 - 1500hrs. Today we were slowly making our way on the A22 Autostrada approaching Verona when an Italian in a BMW X1 approaching us from behind fell asleep at the wheel and after bouncing off the central reservation ploughed into the rear of us at vey high speed. The impact was so severe that Piccolo and the trailer was pushed inside the rear of the motorhome and then fortunately the safety couplings snapped along with the trailer emergency brake and both car and trailer bounced away from us ending up resting against the central reservation. My skid pan training kicked in big style as we initially swerved onto two wheels before coming to rest on the hard shoulder about 100yds further down. After several body parts stopped twitching uncontrollably we donned our reflective vests which are compulsory to carry and put Bradley securely in his harness. Ironically there seemed an air of peace as looking back along the Autostrada everything had come to a halt and there looked complete carnage and there was Bradley wagging his tail very calmly thinking he was going for a walk!. I stayed with Lorraine for a while who travelling on the offside saw everything in her mirror and was very upset. A couple of Italian motorists then walked down to us explaining that the driver of the BMW had fallen asleep and it was common for this to happen. Lorraine then attempted to call the police and I walked back towards the BMW surprised to see the driver stood up talking on his mobile phone… he didn't want to make eye contact with me but after I asked if he was OK he realised I was going to be perfectly civil about this. He could speak good English thank goodness and worked for a British Company in Worcester.
In Italy we were soon to find out they deal with things totally different than on UK motorways and within a few minutes recovery trucks and emergency highway vehicles were on scene with a very nice man in full reflectives and Rayban sunglasses taking charge of things. After they had established there were miraculously no injuries the road was opened again and we all had to start dodging two lanes of passing motorway traffic… but where were the police?. Piccolo and the trailer were being recovered and it was amazing to see the speed everything was being done.
Eventually two police cars arrived so with notepad in hand I found the Sergeant in charge and after he had lit his cigarette I grabbed the other driver as a translator and eventually established that there was going to be no police report and as there was no injury then the whole thing would be dealt with by the Highways Agency (The nice man in the Raybans!). The other ironic thing was that none of the three policemen wore any safety or reflective clothing but made the other driver put his on!.
Piccolo and trailer were now on the back of the recovery truck which then started to hook up the BMW and we were all told to drive to the nearby service area 500 metres further to sort out all the paperwork. As soon as I pulled away in the motorhome I realised it wasn't driving right and after all it was about 6 inches shorter with a twisted body and almost 2 thirds of all the inside furniture and woodwork severely damaged.
After filling out an extensive report I was handed all copies with the nice man in Raybans supplying me with various photo copies (Where was the photocopier?) He even gave Lorraine a hug to make sure she was OK. My heart lifted again when the other driver wrote with witnesses that he accepted full responsibility and signed the statement. He was genuinely apologetic and I did shake his had at the end coz I'm like that but I did keep him away from Lorraine for a while!.
So, after recovery to a commercial Volvo dealership in a small village beside the A22 we found a really nice hotel next door that had already heard of our plight and lifted their 'Sorry Dogs not Allowed' rule and left us have a nice room for the night.
So, what happens next?. Its the weekend first and that means everything in Europe slows right down so we have been told not to expect anything until Monday. What is for certain is that our adventure has to be postponed whilst everything is sorted out and they get us back to the UK but we have time to reflect and maybe there will be something happening again soon!

Big thank you to everyone who has been following us and sending us such lovely messages, we are all fine and in good spirits, so watch this space you never know!
Pictures of incident here

Caio

Shake Rattle 'n'roll

Wednesday 16th May - Having arrived on the east coast of Italy we have spent a nice 24hrs on a large family campsite beside the Adriatic Sea which is just gearing up for the high season but thankfully not with the vast crowds that it can cope with. Like other campsites we have found this one seems to now be concentrating on more permenant 'bungalows' as they call them instead of providing pitches for motorhomes, caravans and tents. It has it drawbacks as there won't be enough pitches to go round in the high season but the sites often have decent swimming pools, restaurants and supermarkets which means less hunting around outside and having to offload Piccolo if we need any 'top ups' when only staying for a couple of nights.

Our journey from the West coast was about 4 hours and we have sadly made many observations about Italy on our travels, some which became obvious a soon as we had crossed the border from France. Its is clear we are in a country that is simply running out of money as the infrastructure is literally crumbling in a lot of areas. The authorities are looking after the main attractions and inner cities but get outside and start travelling around and you soon witness the disrepair and general untidy state the place is in. What doesn't help is that every trash can both domestic and large commercial is left at the roadside for all to see wherever you go. Any wall surface, bridge and even parked trains are quickly covered in graffiti spoiling the overall experience. The worst thing recently for us has been the state of the roads which seems to get worse the deeper you go into Italy. We think we have bad potholes in the UK but these roads are far worse to the point of being very dangerous for us towing a trailer with a car on. Potholes have become large craters in the roads and some roads have the edges falling away and heavy subsidence. We aren't talking just about major trunk roads, even the large european arterial toll roads. You are carefully picking your way around these road defects on a busy single carriageway major road when suddenly a large articulated lorry is overtaking you not worried as its not his vehicle and causing you to brake hard and swerve all over the place. Poor Piccolo on his trailer is a quivering wreck!. When you arrive at your destination and breath a sigh of relief you then have to re-arrange all your cupboards where everything has been thrown around and re-tighten the odd screw and bolt!

We are trying not to sound too negative about Italy which is a lovely place and maybe this is not a part you will see having arrived at a destination on a plane and go straight to a hotel or tourist attraction, but for us 'on the road' all the time it has come to a point where we are considering moving into Austria a little sooner and safer travelling. Probably like Greece, Spain & Portugal, Italy is really suffering at the moment and needs all the help it can get.

Tomorrow we have decided to head for Lake Garda and a visit to Verona which is the birthplace of Lorraine's Great Grandma so will have to research a bit of family tree here if we can!. Lorraine is one eighth Italian so now I know why we have such great pasta dishes!..

Caio.

Where's Zebedee?

Tuesday 15th May - We have spent another fantastic day this time visiting Florence, or as its called locally Firenze. After a long drive from the campsite in Piccolo we arrived after one wrong turn at the elevated Piazzale Michelangelo. This is a spectacular elevated viewing area above the city where you can see the whole of Florence, Michelangelo's David sculpture (Not the real one) and the hills of Tuscany beyond.
We then walked down to the main historical part of the city walking across the beautiful ornate bridge (Ponte Vecchio) which was full of jewellery shops each side. The city was bustling with tourists even at this time of year and certainly a different experience than the quieter cities of Pisa & Lucca and slightly spoilt by beggars coming up to you which surprised us that the authorities were not addressing this seeing the amount of police that were present. Prices were a lot more than we had experienced elsewhere but given the fantastic architecture and general feel of the place this is a great city to visit. After a gentle walk back to the Piazzale Michelangelo we finished off the day with a lovely coffee sat overlooking the city from what must have been the best situated restaurant in the area.
Once more Piccolo was put into Ferrari mode and again we had fun negotiating the rush hour traffic out of the city and back to the campsite.

We have decided to move on and tonight Piccolo has been loaded on his trailer ready for off in the morning. We have seen most of the best of the region and have decided to drive right across Italy to the east coast. So see you in a few days when hopefully we shall be paddling in the Adriatic Sea.

Caio.

The ultimate Hobnob!

Thursday 10th May - We have spent a fantastic day in the walled city of Lucca, the birthplace of Puccini. Totally different from Pisa with only a few tourists Lucca is more of a commercial centre with a lot of banks, some lovely shops and most important the biggest selection of street side restaurants we have come across so far. Mixing and having lunch with the office workers during their 2 hour lunch break was totally relaxing and one would imagine gives you a totally different approach to your daily workload. Nothing seems rushed and everyone appears so happy, what would happen if we ever went for this approach in the UK!.
Once inside the walls of the city, where most traffic is banned (and the streets are too narrow anyway) the preferred mode of transport is the pedal cycle. They didn't have one that Bradley could ride properly so we elected to go on foot and spent nearly 6 hours seeing all the wonderful sights of this medieval city. The shops sold everything from fashion to the famous local olive oil. Lorraine found the only jewellers shop (typical!) and found a lovely local silver Tuscan piece for her Pandora bracelet, so thats the wedding anniversary present sorted for the 20th. We had afternoon coffee at one of the many pasticceria cafés sampling some of the locally made delicacies. Buccellato is a lovely fruit loaf with a hint of aniseed, so many different flavours and then the most wonderful Biscotti. Both can be dunked in coffee for an even more yum yum taste and it certainly beats any Hobnob you have ever tried!.
We really didn't want to step outside the walls of this peaceful place back to the traffic bedlum as the sun was lowering in the sky we could see that this was a fantastic place to be in the evenings. Having put Piccolo into 'Ferrari' mode we safely raced our way out of the city rush hour traffic back to the campsite. Tomorrow we are going to relax as the temperature is forecast to be touching 30c !.

Caio.

Pizza in Pisa

Tues 8th May - Today we had another fantastic day visiting the city of Pisa. Piccolo coped brilliantly keep up with the locals when grid starting from traffic lights, even the Tomtom seems to work quicker to keep up with the faster flow of traffic!. Parking alongside the Piazza dei Miracoli (where all the old city and tower is situated) was really easy apart from being jumped on by masses of black hawkers, "you like Rolex"? as he unwinds a hidden roll of fake Rolex watches was met by a polite 'no grazie' which sufficed in putting that one off until another one then came over with fake Oakley sunglasses. Just like we remembered in Rome the police suddenly appear from nowhere and you laugh at the excited hawkers now running full tilt with their wares to avoid capture. The security is great inside the walled Piazza and you are finally left in piece to compete with the masses of Japanese tourists arriving either by bus or on cruise ships. They seemed to like the very posh Mcdonalds (Yes the big Mac is never far away) so we headed over with the Italians and found some lovely ristoranti's in the side streets. 
The main tower of Pisa has been renovated alongside the other magnificent buildings and shone almost white in the glorious sun against the blue sky (Apparently non existent in the UK!) Going off into the side streets to the older sections revealed more beautiful Italian architecture and we were soon enjoying a traditional pizza with grilled vegetables under the shadow of the tower. 
Like France the Italians have no problems with dogs (Cane) and Bradley was welcome everywhere. He was approached by so many people wanting to know what breed he was and even the Japanese took his photo. I got Bradley to sit for one nice couple who learn't the word 'sit' quickly, took his photo and went off giggling. In a few weeks somewhere in Japan there will be Bradley in amongst a slideshow being shown to a family!. We have to say that Bradley is getting on really well and loves his travelling and sightseeing trips, I suppose mainly because unlike the UK, he is most welcome just about anywhere which makes us more relaxed. 
Bradley even had to prop up that tower (Photo in Italy (west)) and the photo just had to be taken. 
Later in the afternoon we found a lovely 'Gelateria' in amongst the many cafés frequented by the students from the University. There is a large student population in Pisa and the atmosphere watching them all chatting and riding bikes along the narrow streets along with the occasional horse and cart was very relaxing whilst eating the tirimasu, caramel and vanilla ice cream. No need to guess that they make the best ice cream!. 
It was fairly hot but we had felt good and were acclimatising well to the extra heat (Will be 28c degrees on Friday!). Just before the rush hour we were out of the car park and navigating back to the campsite fully Pizza'd out!

Off to the smaller city of Lucca in a couple of days so back soon.

Caio!

Radio Vaticana

Monday 7th May - We have arrived on the furthest point south we are going to travel to in Italy before heading across Tuscany to the eastern coast. The terrain has certainly calmed down now with wider roads and far less hairpin bends!. We arrived yesterday at a lovely campsite beside a lake in a nature reserve just outside the city of Pisa. With excellent weather it promises to be a great day tomorrow (8th) visiting the famous tower in Pisa. We think Piccolo is going to come into his own competing with the Italian city drivers. 
Tonight we had a traditional Italian meatball and pasta dish followed by something that was truly fantastic that Lorraine made up - Brioche was cut and soaked in a dish with milk and eggs and fresh apricots added with a sprinkling of sugar on top. Slow cooked in a Bain Marie it came out of the oven looking spectacular (see 'Brad Pudd' in the Italy (West) photo section). It tasted divine and the whole meal was washed down with the lovely organic Rose' wine which we brought with us from Seillans. All that was needed was some nice background music and the digital (DAB) radio soon found a very interesting channel, 'Radio Vaticana' so with the gentle sounds of the Vatican choir it was  a perfect end to a perfect day.

Arrivederci 

White knuckle drive!

Thursday (3rd May) we had a lovely day with our friends Judith & Andrew in the beautiful unspoilt and traditional village of Seillans. Judith and Andrew run a lovely shop called Le Comptoir de Seillans selling a lovely selection of local wines and regional products. Also a surprise was to meet Judith's Mum Iris who had arrived for a short break from Tiverton, Devon UK. What a coincidence that was and a lovely day was had by all. We left accompanied by some lovely local wine and honey.
Friday we finally set sail (or perhaps left the grid) into Italy, no border controls any more but we had our passports at the ready just in case. The policeman at the border gave us a quick glance but seeing Bradley at the wheel reassured him that us Brits' knew exactly what we were doing (we were in for a shock!). We were advised by a seasoned traveller that just stick to the highway code, don't honk back and just accept that the Italians will often spit their dummies out at a passing foreign driver. That was obvious from the horns of a following bus in a motorway tunnel that I was maybe going a tad too slow for his progress!. Soon an excited Lorraine noticed all the F1 team lorries passing in the opposite direction towards Monaco, it was great to see them up close even though on the opposite carriageway. As we continued along the 'Autostrata' towards Genova things got a whole lot quicker as well as spending nearly the entire time in tunnels. It was like night driving but some of the views in between tunnels along the coast were amazing. On reaching Genova it was like our world was in fast forward, cars everywhere and dare you leave the space of a car in front of you then 6 lorries, a bus and 20 cars will jump into it!. My concentration had reached a peak of its life and my face and expressions must have looked like I was being tortured below.. but I didn't get annoyed or honk once!. We crossed a bridge that looked so unsafe and so high our knuckles went white holding  onto the steering wheel and Lorraine onto her door handle with the resultant expletives!. Even Piccolo hanging on to the trailer looked whiter than normal in my mirrors. The Italians build their motorways like Scalextric tracks and somehow you just stick to the corners which are so tight for motorways and can be taken at amazing speed but not in a motorhome towing a trailer. All the contents of the motorhome can be heard sloshing and clanging to one side only to return on the opposite trip for the next bend. Soon things started to return to normal as we left the motorway at Sestri Levante and climbed a short mountain road towards our campsite. We soon relaxed on the terrace of a lovely small bar watching the setting sun over the sea. All we have to do now is get up the courage to leave the shelter of our campsite for the next leg of the journey into Italy. Its all great fun really!.

Arrivederci