Driving me Crazy

So now that I won't be doing any more driving and I've got a little time to kill on the train I'll do a post (rant) about driving in Italy.

Anything I heard or read about driving here warned that the roads can be quite narrow and Italian drivers can be aggressive so I had some warning beforehand.

When we first got to Italy and drove all around the Dolomite mountains and then around the coast of Lake Como we experienced just how narrow and winding the roads can be. Coming around a blind corner to a large bus definitely gets your heart going. Doesn't stop motorcycles from passing you around corners though. I actually feel like being on the wrong side of the car was a benefit here because I was able to get very close to the edge when coming up to another vehicle. The buses here must be specially designed because the turning radius they have to make those corners is impressive. It's no wonder all the drivers have a cross or picture of Jesus on the dash, they need all the help they can get.

Italian towns seem to frequently be perched on cliff faces so no matter where you are there will be crazy winding roads. The motorways (autostrada) consist of a lot of bridges and tunnels to speed things up but the tolls and lack of scenery mean they're not a flawless alternative.

Driving on the autostrada means sharing the road with an endless train of large trucks from all over Europe. Despite them having a speed limit often 30km lower than cars if they come up on another truck going 1km/h slower than they are they'll dart over to cut you off and force you to slam on your brakes while they slowly crawl past.

Now the main issue with driving here is the Italian drivers. Words can't properly express what it is like driving with these people. Anyone who knows me knows I am not an example of calm, patient and conscientious driving, so for an entire country of drivers make me look like just that there is a serious problem. No matter how fast over the speed limit I would go (often at least 20 over) someone would come up out of nowhere and ride my ass like I was towing them. I think I spent more time being tailgated than not, and I don't mean tailgated like in Canada, I mean literally almost touching. Seeing this happen to someone else really made it look like the two cars were one.

This is not a small percentage of drivers, nor is it males between 18-30, it's middle aged women and it's little old men. It's the whole fucking country. They are mental. While they are tailgating you, they are swerving left to right waiting for the next opportunity to pull some stunt to get by.

This is where it takes a turn for even more retarded. In Italy the road lines mean nothing, and a 2 lane road always has room for passing regardless of a double solid or narrow shoulder. They will force the passee onto the shoulder as well as oncoming traffic and squeeze right by. It's an absolute spectacle and I thought I was seeing things the first time.

Once you almost get used to the drivers you shift focus to scooters. These nutcases are in every European city, including London, so I had some idea what it was like. They risk their own lives as well as their skirt wearing passenger's every second. They fly by you on both sides. They squeeze through traffic and swarm in front of you at a red light. Especially as a pedestrian you have to look out because they aren't. No matter how narrow the street and how few actually have sidewalks, they will fly by you or pass a car beside you. A North American sense of what is an acceptable safe distance needs to be thrown completely out the window because it doesn't exist here.

As I said driving got us so many places we wouldn't have seen otherwise, and it was an amazing experience in itself, so there's no regrets. Driving here is exhausting though, there's no autopilot, I was always on edge waiting for the next insane event. If I had to judge Italians strictly by how they are behind the wheel, I wouldn't have enough bad things to say how their lack of patience, courtesy or common sense. I must admit that may sound hypocritical as I am an aggressive driver at times, but the difference between aggressive in Canada and normal in Italy is beyond explanation.

Luckily, when they aren't behind the wheel most Italians we've talked to have been quite nice and helpful so I guess you just have to accept that's how things are done on the roads here and embrace it. Or take the train.

-Justin

True Backpackers

Well the car has officially left our lives. It was towed from our campsite in Sferracavallo on Tuesday afternoon after a bit of a struggle with our insurance.
Justin bought European breakdown insurance for our trip - Turns out they signed him up for national insurance (for the UK) only. Justin told them he was misled and the lady listened to the prior phone call and agreed that it was their fault. To make a long, fairly frustrating story short, they figured it all out for us and towed it to a wrecker.

Sferracavallo was a strange dirty little town to be stuck in while we dealt with all of that. There was a festival going on and that certainly livened up the city. If you were out and about during siesta things looked downright depressing. We tried arancini for the first time there (a sicilian specialty- meat sauce stuffed rice balls) and they are just so yummy.

We made our first official train trip with all our belongings on our backs from Sferracavallo to another little Sicilan town called Taromina with the hopes of trekking up Mt. Etna; an active volcano. As soon as we arrived here I think we knew that wasn't going to happen. The town is just so beautiful - 2 crystal clear bays surrounded by houses all built up on the cliffs above it. There is an amazing Greek theatre here and a cable car takes you down to the sea. Our hostle is really great, not only because simply having a bed for the first time in a few weeks is such a treat, but it has a terrace that overlooks the city and water where everyone hangs out and socializes. We went out last night with a group of people and it was really fun.
It's been super hot here in Sicily and we have taken full advantage of it here in Taormina. We went snorkeling for a few hours today and found a huge grotto that I found really scary, and we saw so many amazing fish. My favorite was a long needle nose one that I have never seen before.

We leave tomorrow on a long train ride for Naples. I've been told its absolutely filthy and dangerous, so that should be fun.

Thanks for reading my little update.
Gen

RIP Micra

At approximately 1PM on Tuesday the 24th of September our little red 1995 Micra passed away. It had 101,492 miles on the odometer and took us 2,776 miles from London.

We stopped in Cefalu, about 60km from Palermo, west Sicily to check out the old town, and on our way out we stopped and filled up the tank, €67 at €1,90\L. Almost immediately after the transmission warning light started flashing. It had flashed before in Cornwall briefly, and only once or twice randomly on our trip. This time is was continuous.

Now since we have done all we can as far as prolonging its life, and we have driven through every clunk, noise and smell so far, I just kept going. We were fine in the same gear on the autostrada, but when we came into Palermo we hit traffic about 15km from our campground in Sferracavallo. After the first time we came to a stop we had serious trouble getting going again. I knew she was gone. Palermo, and Sicily on the whole, are pretty sketchy, and this section of road was not where I wanted this to happen. We did manage to crawl along, and we got through Palermo, and we got to our campground, slowly, and we managed to park at reception. I turned it off there for the last time.

After checking in here for a few nights I went to start it up and see if we could drive to our pitch. I'm guessing the computer knew it was too gone to turn over because it just didn't, we had to get a push up to where it sits now. A fitting end. To be fair that last bit was in the direction we came from. The Micra literally went as far as we were ever going to go, everything from here was on the way back. It's like a script.

Before we left Wimbledon I went to to a local mechanic for a little advice, and as well as explaining what transmission fluid to use and how to fill it they also shot the shit with me a bit and laughed at my ambition. One joked, if that thing makes it to Sicily send me a postcard. You'll be lucky to get to Dover. The other said it could very well make it all the way home. I took that for what it was and figured we might as well go for it, but if we did hit Sicily they were getting a postcard.

We left some luggage at our friends Will and Lorna's before leaving, and debated driving it to north London, but a couple hours in traffic seemed like wasted time on its life, so we took our heavy bags on the tube. I think that shows how we felt from the start, we just didn't know. Perhaps had we driven to Finchley we wouldn't have made it to Sicily.

Every stretch of road we have driven was something we wouldn't have seen by train. Even if it was boring toll autostrada it was new. We went to so many amazing campsites and saw a totally different kind of traveling from hostels. We went down so many strange back roads getting lost and found in the quietest corners of different countries. We've seen the edges of cities as well as the hearts. We've seen the most amazing scenery, from the Alps to the Adriatic coast of Southern Italy. I could go on and on, and our photos do.

The further this little car went to more I fell I love with it. Every new place we saw away from a train station was a memory it gave us. I actually think Gen got a little jealous when I started calling it baby towards the end. It very easily could have died when we got off the ferry in France, and it could have died when we dragged it through the Dolomites for 5 hours until after dark, and it could have died in some vineyards in the middle of nowhere or on a side street in sketchy ass Bari or Palermo. But it didn't, it drove us exactly as far as we were going to go. Of course I had plans of things to see the next few days, but life goes on.

From here we figure out how to scrap it, leave behind our camping gear, our stump, and a number of other things we can't fit on our backs, and continue by train. It's going to be a totally different trip, but still a good one. I'm so happy this great little car took us so far.

Rest in peace little red Micra, thanks for the adventure!

-Justin

The Unassuming South East Coast

Yesterday we drove from Italy's 'spur' to a little town called Alberbello. The spur was not a planned destination for us, but i found a campsite there that was open (which has been a problem as of late) that looked like it had an amazing beach, so we went. It was a huge resort campsite right on the beach, and it was almost deserted so we had a choice spot. It was so nice to be on the ocean; although it would be nice to be in a bit busier atmosphere to meet people.

The drive south along the coast of the spur was absolutely breathtaking. The two towns close to us were Peschici and Vieste, and they were stunning; white washed, built up all on hills, and overlooking the ocean. The drive to Alberbello from the south of Vieste rivaled any I have ever seen as far as beautiful coastline is concerned. If you are lucky enough to have seen most of Italy I would absolutely recommend visiting this area for something a little quieter and undiscovered by tourists. I should mention that this area has plenty of hotels, campgrounds and services, as Italians vacation there in the summer.

On our drive south near Bari we encountered our first Italian prostitutes. These women are on the most random outskirts roads far away from any city centre just chilling at pull offs or the side of the road. We were very confused by them at first, especially the group of women wearing bikinis waving stop signs, but I looked it up and apparently prostitution is very legal here. Who knew.

The town of Alberbello and area surrounding it have these little homes made of stones called Trulli houses. They look quite quaint and are unique to this area. We camped near here and the campground had a pool and real toilets. It was a treat.

Except for two days in a hostel in Munich, we have camped every single night for almost 3 weeks now (one night sleeping in our car). It's an interesting life and very different from how we camp in Canada. Back home I would scoff at paying for a site or staying somewhere with showers and real toilets and wifi. Now when we get those things I am so happy. I don't think I will look at the people in provincial sites back home the same now; They just have a different agenda than I normally do.
For the past 4 nights our air mattress had had a leak. We found one for sale but it was €50... and as we don't know how much longer we will be camping for we held off on buying it. The longer the Micra lasts and the more we continue to camp the more I regret not buying it. Camping supplies, as most things here in Italy, even food sometimes, are not easy to come by because we don't know where to go or how to ask. The farther south east we go the more we notice a language barrier and a much longer siesta (where everything is closed mid day).

I think we have a pretty big adventure ahead of us in the next couple days.

Gen

East Coast Italy

Venice and Rome were the two big ticket visits for me on this trip so as we were getting close to Venice I started to get a bit excited more than anywhere else so far. As Gen mentioned, we stayed in Punta Sabbioni which is on the tip of a peninsula that surrounds part of the Venice lagoon. Part of the drive there was on a dyke that had the ocean on one side and houses and fields a good 2 metres below sea level on the other. It was a perfect preview on the mentality it takes to have a city like Venice, mental.

We were a short ferry ride from the city that was part of the public transit system and €25 got us 2 days cruising to Venice, around the perimeter, over to Lido and of course up and down the Grand Canal. I knew to expect hoards of tourists, but it didn't phase me there like other places because it was just such a surreal place. It doesn't make any sense to have a city like that, and in reality it looks every bit the way you'd picture it. An accident waiting to happen, but a beautiful one. Some buildings are visibly tilting as they sink, and many walkways and doorways are below water level. There's even a massive construction project in place to build retractable flaps to block sea water if necessary. If I describe Venice at all like I snapped pictures I'd never end. I'll just say It was pretty cool. Check it out.

After Venice we drove down the east coast of Italy. It was cool to see Venice outside of Venice, the lagoon is actually really big with industrial areas as well as small fishing towns with cool hut/net things built all over the canals I didn't get a picture of. As soon as we were out of Venice it became pretty clear not many tourists came this way.

We drove as far as Ancona as we read about Frasassi Caves, which sounded unreal, and we wanted to camp near there. When we got close we went to a beach town called Senigallia with a bunch of camp sites listed, but it ended up being a complete ghost town and everything was closed.

This part of Italy seems to only operate during the really hot high season, I guess since there's so many other parts to see there's just not enough tourism to go around. We ended up driving into the hills near the caves and pulling off the road and sleeping in the car. Wild camping (as we read its called) is illegal in Italy so we weren't sure how it would go over, and a few people did see us, but we were discrete and it was actually not too bad a sleep in the little Micra.

I should mention that I'm falling more in love with this car every day. Even though every noise and smell scares me half to death it's still going and I couldn't be happier.

So the next day we followed signs to the caves in circles for a while until we started losing it and almost gave up. Once we ignored the retarded signs we finally found it. Thank god we did, Frasassi Caves is well worth a google search at the least and a visit if ever possible. It's easily the most incredible natural sight I've ever seen, there's a series of rooms, the largest big enough to fit the Milan Cathedral, a reference that luckily makes sense to me now. It was so expansive and other worldly it took my breath away many times. We lucked out with an English guide to ourselves who was meant to be there for a group that never showed, but there were no photos allowed and she was always close. Snuck a couple with my phone though.

We are now camping on the beach at the tip of the spur of the boot in Vieste. A beauty spot that closes tomorrow. Then we keep following the sun and camping south.

-Justin

Haida Whales and Wine Rats

It's so strange to be traveling after being away from Canada for a year. I find myself looking for things that remind me of home, rather than the opposite as most travelers do. Don't get me wrong, I'm still enjoying the differences, but when I see something that makes me think of Canada I give an extra pause to enjoy it.

In the heart of Verona Justin and I came across a store called 'Canadiens' - A high end winter clothing company from Italy. Everything was super nice and had our maple leaf all over it. There was even Haida art in the store. It made me happy.



Overall Verona was really beautiful. Quite touristy. Lots of high end shops and restaurants. Lots of people making out for a really long time everywhere. Our campsite was in the botanical gardens of Castle San Pietro overlooking the city. It was amazing and unforgettable for the view and the site... but the toilets and showers were holes in the ground and there were lizards and 'wine rats' (as dubbed by a camper sitting next to us on  the terrace) which scurried over ledges and in the olive vines above us. This adds to the 'unforgettable' part I guess.

The Gourmet Camper

On our last night there I went all out at the Supermercato and made a creamy pesto gnocchi and bruschetta at our campsite. With 2 beers and wine it worked out to be about a €20 meal which was quite a lot by our standards, but much less than dinner out would have been.

We are in Venice now (Punta Sabbioni actually - a ferry boat ride to Venice) and leaving tomorrow. We will head down the east coast without really a plan from here until Sicily. 




A couple random things I wanted to document so I don't forget them:

Almost all of our campsites have offered fresh bread for an extra nominal charge in the morning. It seemed strange at first but it actually quite nice now. In Brugge there was a bread vending machine that was filled every morning. In Innsbruck the receptionist at the campsite game me flash cards of every different type of bread they offered. Most sites just have a store or restaurant you can go buy it from.

So far we haven't paid for laundry; we've been doing it by hand. Most campsites have a laundry sink that we have been taking advantage of if we know the weather will be warm enough to dry it. The first time I washed everything I was next to a German lady doing  the same and I watched what she was doing and learned a lot about handwashing. Seems like a simple task but there is a method to it.

On our last night at Lake Como the lady at the bar gave us free Limoncello shots. It was icy cold and soooo tasty, and really sweet of her. Well, she didn't speak English at all so I gathered they were free...   

Anyways that's my muddled blog post today. Hope you are all well and I'm really looking forward to seeing you soon.

Genevieve

International Stump

Anyone unfamiliar with the game stump must not know me at all, and has been living a less fulfilled life. You can learn a bit from this Wikipedia page although our rules slightly differ in a much more awesome way.

As soon as we landed in London I was missing stump, but as the English cut down all their trees hundreds of years ago I knew acquiring an adequate stump was a lost cause. I did keep my eyes peeled on every drive we took, hoping, but it wasn't gonna happen.

I brought my hammer from work on this trip thinking I might be luckier in Europe, and when we passed a house in Belgium that had recently cut down and bucked up a couple trees I knew that was my chance. We went back later and swiped the perfect little stump to put in the back seat for the rest of our trip.

Now I figured once we found a stump nails would be the easy part. Granted we passed through Germany before I really started looking. In Italy I assumed if I kept my eyes peeled I'd notice some kind of building supply store on our drives but after 2 days I gave up. I looked online and found out that Italians aren't big on DIY home improvement. They strongly believe in the importance of individual trades and when something needs fixing they call Tony from down the street. I did however find the word for ironmonger (hardware store in Canada), which was 'ferramenta' and a google search of that came up with a few results.

The first mission was to a small town near our camp ground but my address was an apartment building and no ferramenta in sight. I now know not to fully trust google maps in tiny Italian villages.

The next day we went to Milan and there appeared to be a few there. We walked in to one only 5 minutes from the Duomo in the very heart of Milan that was a tiny cluttered shop with a random assortment of home improvement stuff ranging from screws to towels to cutlery. Luckily they understood my request for 'chiodi' and we went to a bin of assorted nails. I pointed out the big ones and said I wanted 50 and this poor kid dumped them on the ground and started sorting. He got to 35 and that was enough. They ended up being a ridiculous €8,50 but after all that trouble I was happy to pay.

We had mentioned our game to the German couple we met and they said it sounded familiar. Looking at the Wikipedia page I saw a link to a game called Hammerschlagen that's similar and a couple hundred years old.

We haven't gotten to play with anyone else yet, but tossing a hammer in the air has caught a few eyes, so it's only a matter of time.

-Justin

Lago di Como

We're on our fourth night at our campground on Lake Como. It's in a little town called Abbadia Lariana on the east side of the lake, not far from the town of Lecco. We really wanted to spend some time in the area so figured we would get comfortable here for 4 nights. Couldn't be happier we did.

The campground is right on the lake, and Lake Como is absolutely beautiful. We are just on the southern edge of the Alps so it's still mountainous an incredibly scenic. We did a drive around half the lake the other day that went through a bunch of cool villages perched on the hills around the lake. Lots of sketchy narrow roads and crazy drivers again. Should note the Micra rolled over 100,000 miles on that drive. While most of them weren't us I still feel better that the car can die more fulfilled having used every digit on the odometer.

Yesterday we did a day trip to Milan, which is about an hour by train and only €10 return. First glimpse at a very convenient and efficient train system here. It was great to see the Duomo and wander the fashion district, but it wasn't my favourite city. An aggressive gypsy lady was our first encounter, "helping" us buy our metro tickets by frantically pressing buttons we didn't want and then trying to take our change. The African men in the centre trying to sell shitty string bracelets were also way more aggressive than anywhere else we've been. Not that it means much but did leave an impression. I think Milan is a city you'd need to spend at least a few days in to enjoy the nightlife and maybe have some money for shopping because for a rushed day it's not heavy on sightseeing. On our way back our transfer train in Lecco was delayed an hour and a half due to an accident and we had some trouble finding out what was going on and how to get back as it was all in Italian. Luckily someone else stranded spoke a bit of English and translated the broken information he got, but it was a helpless feeling before that.

Our campground has a bar right on the water that has hosted an event every night. It's definitely the most happening spot in the area and it's been an amazing time being around so many locals in a small town party spot. A pizza for €5 and a litre of wine for €8 doesn't hurt. We met a really nice German couple who are in the area for rock climbing and got to drink and chat with them the last three nights which was really fun.

We're off to Verona tomorrow for 2 nights. I'm actually a little disappointed because its been so nice to settle in somewhere so beautiful and so much fun. If anyone ever has a chance to visit Lake Como do it, it's absolutely awesome.

-Justin

Pizza and Schnitzel

We made the 2 hour drive from Innsbruck to Bolzano in Northern Italy yesterday no problem, the views of the Alps were amazing. We set up camp and then departed on a drive I had read about through the Dolomite Mountain range. Perhaps a little cocky with our car but my thinking was if we didn't do these drives we may as well have taken trains.

I expected it to be a drive like going through the Rockies, steep in places but mostly fine and breathtaking. I also expected the 200km round trip to be around 4 hours. Well this drive was more than I bargained for. It quickly became like driving up a ski hill over and over again, which it was. We did countless hairpin turns up mountain sides, countless as in multiple hundred not dozens. We drove through so many beautiful ski villages, each one would make for an amazing week in the Alps. The views were second to none an something we will never forget, but the road was too much for the car.

After 4 hours we reached halfway and I was stressing a bit, really hoping we wouldn't have to go back that way. We did find a slightly easier return, but still over 2 hours and with plenty of steep climbs and descents. When dark hit in the middle of the mountains we really knew a breakdown would be a real shitter. Long story short we made it back to our site after 6 hours of emotional highs and lows. After sleeping on it I of course feel like it was worth it, but the brakes now squeal and the tranny made some new noises, warning light flashed a bit too. Poor little car.

As more well read people than myself will already know, this area of Italy was part of Austria for 700 years up until the end of WW1. All the signs are in German and Italian, all the villages we drove through were very German looking, and everyone at our camp ground speaks German. The menu last night had only pizza and schnitzel on it. It's very strange to think about an entire region with so many people changing hands less than 100 years ago. The signs of how recent it is are very obvious.

Personally I'm glad it's Italy because if it were still Austria they'd probably charge me another €128 for 40km of autobahn driving through a country that was just in my way. Bastards.

-Justin

Awww, Austria!

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. No, really today has been much more good than bad. The highlight for me being seeing mountains for the first time in almost a year. This might not seem all that exciting to you spoiled Canadians out there, but England has NO mountains. Zero. They have some large hills, granted, but the south west of Germany and now Austria have proper big rocky jagged beautiful bountiful mountain. Ah, it has made me feel so at home.

The past two days in Munich (Munchen) have been really great as well. We booked a 15 bed room in a hostel and ended up having a 4 bed room with ensuite for both nights to ourselves. We drank 1L beers in a real brew haus called Hofbrauhaus, where we made friends with a few Americans and an Aussie. We walked around a beautiful park; I had no idea Munich had so much nature. And drank at a few more biergartens along the way. We both really enjoyed the city, and I found both Cologne and Munich to be very liveable places. I really liked Germany. Go there.

Also a major highlight so far has been visiting the Neuschwanstein today- it's probably the most impressive castle I will ever see. It's rumored to be the one Disney based all their cases off of. Pretty romantic. Justin had been wanting to see it for a while and we got to do a proper hike up to it which felt really good. It was better than a picture, well maybe just our pictures, can portray.

And then we entered Austria and got pulled over by the police and fined €120. So our budget is blown for a while. To be honest, we knew there was an €8 road tax in Austria, and were fully prepared to pay it, but we thought it would be like a toll booth. Apparently not. You have to buy it at a gas station when entering the country. Stupid tourists.
Anyways our campsite here in Innsbruck is lovely; mountains on one side and a city view on the other. Probably not worth €150, but hey, who's keeping track. (me).

Love you all.
Gen

Made it to Munich

We've just arrived from Cologne and the Micra actually survived another 600km, despite 2 hours of bumper to bumper transmission abuse on the motorway. It's fine when we're cruising along but coming to a stop is a nerve racking clunk and grind as it down shifts. Anyone's guess how many more of those it takes to kill it.

I've been dreaming of driving the autobahn longer than I've even been driving, and in none of those daydreams was I putting along in the slow lane at 100km/h in a car on its last breath. It was pretty intense timing when to pass a lorry without impeding a high end sports car doing 200. I guess I can't cross everything off my bucket list this time around. I'll be renting a Porsche on my next trip down the autobahn.

Cologne was not on our short list of must visits but it was conveniently located on our way and made sense to stop. I'm really glad we did. Our campground was only 7km and a short tram ride from the centre of the city, with it's amazing cathedral and numerous brewpubs. The Rhein river ran past our campground and through the city, and was just beautiful, countless sandy beaches and treed areas perfect for an evening beer and sunset.

I hadn't expected to skate much, but did bring my board and Cologne happened to have probably the best skate plaza I've ever seen right on the river which was a nice surprise and some well needed time on the board.

We met a couple of very entertaining Germans at our campground last night. They were in their 40s and celebrating their anniversary with a weekend in Cologne and a lot of wine. They insisted we drink with them and enjoy an evening of broken English, local knowledge and palm reading. It was memorable to say the least, but they were both great and it was awesome to socialise with some locals.

I picked a metro station arbitrarily outside of Munich to park the car and head into the city to our hostel which worked out great. Free parking right outside and avoided all traffic. Now we've got a couple days to see what Munich has to offer.

Oh, and if anyone isn't sick of our photos we've both been using instagram a bit if you're on there and wanna search our names.

-Justin

You Say Cologne, I Say Köln

Well the little Micra made it to Gremany. We are camping for 2 nights along the Rhine river in a little suburb outside of the city and then will head to Munich on Saturday where we have booked a hostel for another 2 nights. That will be the first time we attempt to find parking outside the city and train in. Should be exciting?

Already I can tell the language barrier is a bit more serious here than the other countries we have visited. We followed our campground's directions to get into the city (where we currently are using wifi for as long as we can) but it was more by fluke we made it here. I can only imagine what the coming days will bring.

Now off to look up some common German phrases before wifi time is up!

Gen

Day 2

We're on our second night at our campground in Bruges. It is technically camping, but in a way I have never done nor expected to ever do. We are a short bus ride to the centre of Bruges, we are near no body of water and in close proximity to our neighbors. There is wifi available and clean toilets and showers. This isn't camping.

It is however a pretty affordable way to bum around Europe. Not really cheap, but €20 for 2 people to sleep and 24 hours of parking isn't too bad. I think we'll be alternating between this and hostels as long as we have the car.

Genevieve has set a budget goal of €50 a day, but I think we will more likely be doubling that on the regular. It'll be a fun cop/sourpuss cop scenario.

Bruges is beautiful, almost unnaturally so. The buildings and canals are so photogenic. It's sort of similar to Rhodes Town mixed with Amsterdam with its old stone streets and canals, but it's so much more pristine and with no unoccupied or unkept buildings. The place looks a little bit fairytale.

We're off to Cologne tomorrow morning, if we can get another 400km's out of the Micra. Topped up the gearbox oil before we left and it sounds a little better, but expectations are still quite low. The local mechanic didn't have much faith it would even get to Dover, and I don't think either of us expect him to get a postcard from Sicily.

-Justin

In Bruges

We made it to Belgium and will be spending two nights camping near Bruges. The ferry ride over to France was pretty awesome- we are so used to taking BC ferries it was nice to be on one so different. There was only a small outside deck so that wasn't great, but the shopping and bars on the inside far surpassed any short trip ferry I've been in so far.
Justin has been pretty impressed that we travelled through 3 countries all before noon today. I don't think our. Canadian sense of distance will ever get used to how close things are here.
Anyways that's my quick update!
Gen

Goodbye Wimbledon

It's our last day in our flat in Wimbledon. We are all packed up, and tomorrow will have the inspection and hand over the keys. It feels like it snuck up on us quite quickly, and we are sad to leave, but we have quite the adventure ahead of us.

A Shotgun First

Last night we had a bit of a send off party. Thank you so much to everyone who came. It was lots of fun to have a bit of a piss up, and we felt so happy to have you all here with us. I made some traditional 'Canadian' food... french onion chip dip, poutine, kraft dinner, and ranch dressing. We also had the caesars flowing, and Hailee even made a delicious cucumber & gin version. It was all quite unhealthy and not very classy -  just the way a good party should be.

On Tuesday we head out on a bit of a European adventure. We plan on driving, and also plan for the car to break down; It has a problem with the gearbox and apparently will stop working at any time. We've bought travel backpacks and extra car insurance to tow us to the nearest mechanic to prepare for it (where we will then get it scrapped). We have a plan B sorted but both really hope we can drive and camp for a while before we have to backpack and train around.

We are going to drive through Belgium and Germany to get to Italy where we will motor around the entire coast of the country. If the car fails we will fly to Italy and do everything on foot. To be honest at this point we are just hoping that the car makes it to Danny and Hailee's with all our stuff tomorrow. One day at a time...

It occurred to me yesterday that many moons ago my birthday would be falling on the first day of school. This year, instead of school, I'm starting a crazy trip that I'm sure will provide me with lessons that I will look back on and learn from for many years to come. I'm excited, and a little scared to learn those lessons.

We'll try and update our blog often just so those of you that worry (our parents) will know where we are and that we are safe.

Send our car positive vibes if you think of it. We need all the help we can get.

Gen

*** Update: We made it to Hailee and Danny's.