Monday, 28 May 2007
Jelsa, Hvar
This was one of those pretty Croatian islands with civilization at both ends, but a dearth of life-sustaining supplies in-between.There was a 'village' on the map called Dugi where, after having woken up in somebody's olive grove & done a very hot 400m climb on empty stomachs, we pinned much hope of sustainance - to no avail. "Dugi" is now part of our vocab, meaning "looks like another barren, foodless place"!
yet another place...
that we're going to have trouble getting away from!
Thought I'd better not put a pic. of me skinny-dipping in the beautiful lakes of Mljt island, so here's a more 'conventional' scene of this gorgeous place!
Thought I'd better not put a pic. of me skinny-dipping in the beautiful lakes of Mljt island, so here's a more 'conventional' scene of this gorgeous place!
on the fiddle again
On our second island off the Dalmation coast (Hvar), we were up at about 400m (Kitty has thing about going over mountains) and we met these Czech guys who saw the guitar on the trailer and said, 'hey come back to our boat and play some music with us!'
The end result was a constant flow of rum / wine/beer/awesome hospitality - a really crazy night and sore heads the next day!
The end result was a constant flow of rum / wine/beer/awesome hospitality - a really crazy night and sore heads the next day!
moving on
having planned to stay in Dubrovnik just one day, it took us 4 days to tear ourselves away - we were so happy here. We eventually caught a ferry to the nearby island that Homer described as paradise - he wasn't kidding.
Monday, 21 May 2007
it´s the people you meet.
The best thing about this trip has been the extraordinary and spontaneous acts of kindness and friendliness.
We´ve had old ladies bring us an expresso whilst sitting in a town park; had to follow families in cars, or old men on rickety bikes, miles to the nearest accomodation; had ancient champagne shared with us on a ferry. Pictured is Nunzio, a lovely Italian guy who gave us loads of advice, acquired maps for us...and even gave us some money towards our journey! It has been truly humbling.
We´ve had old ladies bring us an expresso whilst sitting in a town park; had to follow families in cars, or old men on rickety bikes, miles to the nearest accomodation; had ancient champagne shared with us on a ferry. Pictured is Nunzio, a lovely Italian guy who gave us loads of advice, acquired maps for us...and even gave us some money towards our journey! It has been truly humbling.
night owls
I suppose I had to earn some of the rent too! Actually, I think this is the first time I´ve ever busked - pretty cool place to start!
view from our balcony
....better still, our front door is the centre of this C13th city & the hottest busking spot in town, so Kitty busks for a bit each morning and pays the rent (10 GB pounds a night - food, oven, fridge included!!)
Trouble is, we're feeling so mellow (and flush) here, we´ve forgotten about all that hard work cycling stuff!
Trouble is, we're feeling so mellow (and flush) here, we´ve forgotten about all that hard work cycling stuff!
the accomodation´s pretty hot
When we arrived at the gates of old Dubrovnik, this sweet old lady jumped out of the shadows and said, `you want room?`. Hereś a pic. of the house we´re staying in (the balcony is attached to our palatial bedroom). Fortunately the war ended 16 years ago and they´ve put the fire out now. It still has the bullet holes in the walls though...
everybody told us...
Dubrovnik was beautiful, but I had no idea just how stunning it (and Croatia , in general) would be. But the real pleasure is in the absence of cars and scooters - a welcome stark contrast to Italy.
It felt strange getting on a ferry in east Italy at night and waking up in Croatia the next morning!
It felt strange getting on a ferry in east Italy at night and waking up in Croatia the next morning!
whoever said ...
´you can have too much of a good thing´ has clearly never been on a tandem tour through Europe. It just seems to get better and better.
Of course, there have been a few lows and a few places we wish we hadn't bothered cycling for 6 hours through the heat to get to - I suppose something should have given it away...
Of course, there have been a few lows and a few places we wish we hadn't bothered cycling for 6 hours through the heat to get to - I suppose something should have given it away...
Monday, 14 May 2007
Pompei-ed out
Sometimes it all gets a bit much, and a cool cafe & ice-cream gets to have more appeal than yet another Roman marble.
No, I'm not on the 'phone...that's the Pompei audio guide! Did you know that, in 67AD...
No, I'm not on the 'phone...that's the Pompei audio guide! Did you know that, in 67AD...
some don't like it hot
Not being of suicidal tendancy, we didn't fancy cycling through Naples, so, after a lot of camping wild in gorgeous places (it's uncanny how lucky we've been finding amazing places to sleep - we had a beautiful campsite totally to ourselves in Formia!), we finally booked into a cheap hotel in Capua and caught the train in. This proved prudent - Naples is utter chaos (did I mention something about 'on the verge of anarchy' earlier?)
The main reason for going there was to visit Pompei, which is pretty impressive. Not everyone feels the same way tho' - after a life of slavery, this poor guy got buried under 6 metres of ash from Mount Vesuvius (which is also quite impressive).
The main reason for going there was to visit Pompei, which is pretty impressive. Not everyone feels the same way tho' - after a life of slavery, this poor guy got buried under 6 metres of ash from Mount Vesuvius (which is also quite impressive).
talking of litter
Kitty got fed up of me taking pictures of all the tasty bits of Italy, so I had to blog this one of a VERY typical Italian scene. If it looks like I'm keen to get moving, it's because (just out of the pic.) there are 3 , hungry, rabid-looking mongrels!
waste not
In Formia, they found a novel use for all those Roman ruins like colosseums littering the place - they live in them!
camera shake
this was the view from about half way up - there aren't any pics from the very top - we were too terrified to loose our grip on the rock (yes, I mean it!). Still, at least we know the Italian for precipice now (il precipio).
go up there? You must be joking...
Halfway between Rome & Naples, Kitty sees this big hill and says 'that looks nice to walk up' - I didn't realise she was serious!!
parmigiano time
The inevitable cheesey pic of us at the Colosseo in Rome. Even in early May it was pretty busy and hot, I'd hate to be here in a couple of months. Could have spent a week here tho' - amazing what these Italians dig up in their back gardens sometimes.
why the Roman empire fell...
Why just write "SPEED CAMERA" when you can write all this?!
The other bizarre thing you'll notice, is that this is a British police helmet, certainly never seen in Italy.
You get a strong feeling Italy is on the verge of anarchy: the road surfaces are atrocious, the drivers are homicidal maniacs - I had one close his wing mirror on my elbow, whilst riding as close to the kerb as I could get (he didn't stop). Yet you just can't help but love the Italians - they're just so damned friendly! Get the map out in a cafe full of old men (we always do) and we'll have 20 different heated opinions of where we should go next and how we shoulsd get there!
The other bizarre thing you'll notice, is that this is a British police helmet, certainly never seen in Italy.
You get a strong feeling Italy is on the verge of anarchy: the road surfaces are atrocious, the drivers are homicidal maniacs - I had one close his wing mirror on my elbow, whilst riding as close to the kerb as I could get (he didn't stop). Yet you just can't help but love the Italians - they're just so damned friendly! Get the map out in a cafe full of old men (we always do) and we'll have 20 different heated opinions of where we should go next and how we shoulsd get there!
off to Italy...
The ferry fare to Italy from Toulon was 44 Euros each - but 45 for the trailer!! So we took its wheels off and told them it was hand baggage (i.e. free)!
In fact, after friends Joelle and Daniel had escorted us to the port, nobody seemed bothered, so we put them back on & cycled onboard.
In fact, after friends Joelle and Daniel had escorted us to the port, nobody seemed bothered, so we put them back on & cycled onboard.
Saturday, 5 May 2007
Daniel & Joelle
We were very glad to meet up with friends Daniel & Joelle, who live near Toullon. They treated & fed us like kings, showed us beautiful places, took us swimming in the sea, played loads of good music with us, found us a ferry to Italy (yes, I confess, we skipped the Alps!) - then finally escorted us all the way to the port. THANK YOU BOTH - see you soon in Wales!!
medieval village
We must be getting fitter - after a tough day's cycling we went up to this medieval village in Provençe just for fun. Mad, or what...
repairs on the road
In the alpine foothills, after some serious hill-climbing we stopped off in a pizzeria (we could tell we were getting close to Italy!) and when we came out it was dark & we didn't know where we were sleeping! Half-an-hour later, the trailer hitch broke (a quick swap around of bike-bits botched it). Fortunately we found some beautiful woods to camp wild in (tho' we didn't know they were till the next day!). Here I am cleaning and oiling my baby (no, I mean the bike!)...
Otter in Camargue
One of the highlights of the Camargue, was this otter showing off his aquabatics purely for our benefit.
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