30th April 2016
We arrived safely into the port and had a leisurely drive up to Arillas. Potholes are no better, I recognised some from last year! We called in at the Marvel Hotel to say hello to Kostas and Spiros, also to Ann and John who had just arrived too. Then we had a drive down to Sharons, there were lots of our friends there, sat having a drink in the sunshine. Sharon had even made a Lemon cake as she knows it is my favourite. We went back to the apartment and unpacked the van, stayed in and had an early ish night. We heard the fireworks at midnight but didn’t see them.
1st May 2016
Easter Day on Corfu. The day when everyone has Red eggs for breakfast.
Phil found a tiny lizard in our hallway, he picked it up to put it on the balcony as we didn’t want to tread on it or for Poppy to play with it.
We were invited for lunch with the lovely Makris family at the Marvel Hotel. It was a fantastic spread and lots of good company.
After our meal we played a Pub game called ‘Shut the box’ We had never played it before and thoroughly enjoyed it – we had a good laugh.
The people in the photo are Sue and Paul (next door neighbours one side), Alison, Phil, me, Ann and John (neighbours the other side). Sat at the bar are Spiros and Sophia. Copious amounts of alcohol was consumed.
As you can see – some was even spilled, poor Ann had to get changed as she had a glass of red accidentally poured over her. I offered to pour my white wine on her, as I have heard this is good for getting the stain out, but she declined my offer.
We had a great evening, meeting up with lots of friends – our first, of many late nights!
2nd May 2016
Bit of a miserable day today, the heavens opened around lunch time, it was cold and wet all day. We decided to stay in and recover from yesterday. We caught up with emails, I wrote my blog of the journey, then we watched an episode of ‘The Durrells’ on the laptop.
We have discovered what we think is the start of a wasps nest, attached to the underside of the roof on our balcony.Our landlord Yannis came and removed it for us.
3rd May 2016
Wet start to the day again. It turned out sunny and warm though. We met our friend Neil for a drink in the Marvel and then we walked down to the beach for Poppy to have a good run and her first swim of the year.
We felt lazy when we got back so we stayed in and I cooked a Pizza.
4th May 2016
Beautiful sunny day today, did some washing and it is all hanging out in the sun and slight breeze.
Paul our next door neighbour brought Poppy a huge lamb bone, he also took her for a walk and run on the beach.
We had a drive over to Sidari to do a bit of shopping and get some cash out of the ATM. While we were driving over the uneven roads we heard an almighty bang in our bathroom, we pulled over to have a look and it was the mirror which was attached to the bathroom cabinet in hundreds of pieces all over the floor. We think the double sided tape is 17 years old and the bumpy roads have shaken it loose. When we got back to Arillas we went to Armourada for a meal with friends. I had to touch Billy’s hair, love the colour.
5th May 2016
Beautiful start to the day, bright and sunny already 18 deg at 11am. Got up to a very pleasant 22 deg this afternoon. It was such a lovely day we decided to drive over to Sea Monkeys in Sidari with our neighbours Ann and John. We all had Brunch/lunch and Poppy found some new friends to throw a Frisbee for her. She was all played out and kept going under a nearby tree in the shade to rest. It was great to see Andy and Fiona again, with their dog Toffee. We also caught up with Will and Danielle. Will is now working in the bar and will be doing the sunbeds, no more boats for him. Danielle will be working at Sharon’s pool bar, once again when it gets a little busier.
We were still too full from our brunch to go out this evening, we stayed in and had crisp butties, we know how to live it up!
6th May 2016
21 deg at 11am. People are talking about a heatwave at home but I just looked and it is only 12 deg in Grimsby, I am glad we are here. We went down to Dave’s Quiz at the Malibu – quite a good turn out. At half time we had one game of Bingo too, Phil won 5 euros for the line. Another couple of glasses of wine for us lol.
We went to have a last drink with Cliff before he flew home this evening. Then went into the Rainbow for a huge friendly welcome from all the family. We had a meal with Paul, Sue and Ross. Jimmy joined us too, to eat his dinner with us. Phil and I had our favourite Chicken fajitas wraps, they were so good.
End of our first week – just as good as always. Love the start of the season before it gets too busy with tourists.
We spent the last couple of days before departure loading Huee with all our essentials for a 3 month trip.
We went to the weigh-bridge to make sure we are not overloaded. All OK 60 kg to spare, so room for some wine when we get to Europe lol. We put some gas into our new re-fillable bottle, but found a slight leak, so Phil checked all the connections and he is confident it is all good to fill up when we get to Europe, where it is cheaper than the UK.
20th April 2016
We had a very special birthday party to attend today – our Great Grandson, Archie is one year old today. He is such a stunner and I am sure he will grow into a handsome boy. His cake was beautiful too – chocolate with butter cream inside.
We drove over to Hull to catch the 6.30pm ferry to Zeebrugge. Poppy settled in her kennel, she is used to this now and just settled down. We went up to the bar and had a couple of drinks while sailing down the Humber and watching Grimsby and Cleethorpes fade away.
22nd April 2016
We woke in Belgium to a bright coolish day and headed off South towards Koblenz – Koblenz is an ancient city in central Germany, and a gateway to the terraced vineyards and ruined castles of the Rhine Gorge. In the center, a monumental statue of William the Great marks the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle rivers. A cable car connects to the hilltop Ehrenbreitstein Fortress, which hosts museums and cultural events. South along the river is the neo-Gothic Stolzenfels Castle with its gardens.
Our first night was spent at a Stellplatz we had our first meal cooked with our new Ridge Monkey cooking pan, I am quite impressed with it.
It was such a lovely peaceful spot we decided to stay for two nights as Phil wanted to mend/adjust a couple of things that were not quite right.
24th April 2016
We carried on Southwards and spent the night in a Rest-stop in Pforzheim near Stuttgart. Passing some beautiful scenery in the Alps.
25th April 2016
Today we entered Austria – more beautiful scenery we spent the night at
Camping Via Claudiasee, Pfunds, Austria right next to a fast flowing river.
26th April 2016
These are the last shots of Austria before we drove into Italy.
We spent the night in Bassano del Grappa at a municipal camping stop – but their machine was not working so we did not pay.
27th April 2016
Drove through Italy on non toll roads, through some interesting towns but nothing really pretty. We spent the night in Gradara. Gradara is a town and commune in the Province of Pesaro e Urbino, in the region of Marche in central Italy. It is 6 Kmfrom da Gabicce Mare and Cattolica, 25 Km from Rimini, 15 Km from Pesaro. This area is very special to us as we spent our honeymoon in Cattolica – 35 years ago.
28th April 2016
We drove further south to Fano and found a beautiful spot to spend the night next to the beach, at the side of Restaurant la tratto. It was pouring with rain when we arrived so we did not walk along the beach. This is the view from our window.
We did have a nice meal in the restaurant finished off with Vodka lemon sorbet, it was lush.
29th April 2016
Today is our son Andy’s birthday. I hope he got the card I posted before we left.
Just a short hop to Ancona today to catch the ferry for Greece. We made a quick stop at Lidl to stock up with a few bottles of Zinfandel, my favourite wine.
We boarded the ferry and all 3 of us made our way up to our pet friendly cabin. Patras Travel who we always book with give us a free upgrade of a cabin and a 30% discount off food in the self service restaurant. We had a quick stroll around the deck for Poppy to have a walk. Then Phil and I went to eat, we had 1 chicken and chips, 1 Spag Bol,1 Greek salad with the biggest piece of cheese I have ever seen, and a bottle of Greek red wine all for 19 euros. We went to bed early excited to be arriving in Greece when we wake up.
30th April 2016
Wow what a beautiful day, wall to wall sunshine and 19 deg. We disembarked in Igoumenitsa and made our way across to the old port to catch the little ferry to Corfu. This was the first time we have been on their new fast ferry, was a perfect sail, the sea was so calm. We arrived at Corfu Port to find lots of traffic, it was so busy as this is the annual ‘red pot throwing day’ On the Greek islands Holy Week ceremonies begin on Palm Sunday. At 11.00 in the morning, the litany of the Holy Shrine of Saint Spyridon takes place in recognition of the miraculous deliverance of the island from the spread of the deadly plague in 1629. This litany is the largest in size and length, and follows the trail of the old Venetian city walls. All the Philharmonics (the local name for brass bands) of this Ionian island participate to honour the Patron Saint of Corfu. On the same night, the “Mántzaros” Philharmonic presents a solemn concert which beautifully evokes the melancholy mood of the Passion, or Holy, Week.
We have had an incredible journey in our new to us 17 year old, left hand drive Hymer van Huee. He has behaved very well, I was a little nervous at first because he is quite a bit wider than the old van, but I have driven the 1200 miles confidently, well most of the time. One hairy moment was when we had to cross quite a narrow bridge, lots of traffic about and there was a bluming great Artic coming towards me I am sure there was only a couple of inches each side of us. We have loved having all the space, the beds are so comfortable and the bathroom is luxury to us.
What has made this trip extra special for us is, we have been carrying a precious cargo. Our very good friend, whom we met in Arillas, several years ago, Christine died last September. Her husband Bob said that they had always talked of driving to Arillas and asked if we would take Christine’s ashes with us. We feel very proud and privileged to have been entrusted to do this. Bob will be flying out with other members of the family later this month and we will scatter her ashes on what would have been Christine’s birthday.
Each day we are getting a bit closer to our leaving home date of 21st April.
Storing everything we took out of the old van in the new one, plus some new items we have bought. There is so much more room, we still have empty cupboards but am sure that won’t last long. We are going to buy some new crockery, when we see some we like.
Updated laptop to Windows 10 – hope I don’t regret it!
Good news – we have sold Mercy our Toyota campervan, to a lovely local family who love her as much as we do. If they only have half the fun and adventures we had, they will be very happy.
Solar panel is fitted and working very well. All that free energy from the sun is great.
My friend Sandra came yesterday to wish us bon voyage and to see Huee. we had our first glass of wine in him – so he is well and truly christened now. It is a very sociable van, five people and two dogs and did not feel at all cramped.
Today is Archie’s first birthday – he is absolutely gorgeous, happy all the time and just so dammed cute. I drove the van for the first time today, the only thing is that it it so much wider than Mercy, I suppose I will get used to it. We also took it to get some gas in the refillable tanks – so we are all good to go now.
Had a meal with the family for Archie’s birthday tonight.
After a hectic few months of selling our house and moving into a granny flat, we have started preparations for our trip to Greece. Even though we are still unpacking boxes – well it is a big drop from 6 bedrooms to 1 bedroom.
Firstly we have bought a new Motorhome. It is quite a bit bigger than the last one, with a proper bathroom and a bed that drops down from over the cab. This saves having to make the bed up every day. It is only one meter longer, but wider and higher, there is much more room. Phil is busy fitting a refillable gas system and a solar panel. Also some USB sockets for charging phones, kindles etc.
Our new baby is called Huee the Hymer.
We have booked our ferries – Hull to Zeebrugge on the 21st April and Ancona to Igoumenitsa on 29th April.
We have decided to leave a little later this year so that we can be here for our Great Grandson Archie’s first birthday on 20th April.