Yes, a summary of the summer !
1 - A difficult start with the passport office having changed a ruling .
New rule you can still have 2 passports but the names must match. Changing Nida's Thai passport to Clark difficult even if in Thailand..Impossible in UK. Thus passport office finally agreed that if we changed Nida's "English name" to Ratchada Khamsaen then they would issue a passport. This meant a change of name by Deed Poll which in itself was easy then simply a matter of notifying Bank Doctor etc. So we got the new UK passport OK but lost 7 months of Passport time (the old one finished in December...not a problem).
2 - Motorhome matters.
a) Planned new cambelt £400 (preventative maintenance)
b) Usual service and MOT but new brake Servo needed £200 (brakes only)
c) New Engine battery needed (£100+)
d) Fridge breakdown no 1 near Napoli (160 euros)
e) Fridge breakdown no 2 (different) In Germany (200 euros - 2 garages)
The motorhome in now 12 years old such items are inevitable just a minor glitch in that items b) c) and e) occurred this year. However the motorhome performed well and no accidents or mechanical issues or fines etc.
3 - The tour..
a) France is usually good and we knew of some stopovers.. The road over the Col du Mont-Cenis was an excellent mountain road and not scary ! Interesting that the border with Italy is some way down from the "ridge". This is due to the exploits of a certain Napoleon. Significant other areas in the region have also changed hands a few times !
b) Italy (going south). Some really nice places (Cuneo, Cinque Terre, Pisa, Vinci, Florence, Latina, Lago Sirino)
The museums were all good but the one near Latina was simply brilliant !
c) Sicily OK but not as exciting as I had hoped, Also cheap camping limited however we enjoyed "Breakfast at Tiffany" Siracusa and Mount Etna (Very windy at night)
d) Italy (Near the Adriatic coast). Some lovely stopovers views and towns Matera and Alberobello in Puglia, Rapino and Offagna and San Marino. Finally Venice, Falze di Piave and SanMartino.
Roads were variable but M-ways not too expensive we spent a total of £110 on tolls in Italy with a total distance of 3,300 miles (Italy). The Sicily ferries cost about £90 (for both).
New rule you can still have 2 passports but the names must match. Changing Nida's Thai passport to Clark difficult even if in Thailand..Impossible in UK. Thus passport office finally agreed that if we changed Nida's "English name" to Ratchada Khamsaen then they would issue a passport. This meant a change of name by Deed Poll which in itself was easy then simply a matter of notifying Bank Doctor etc. So we got the new UK passport OK but lost 7 months of Passport time (the old one finished in December...not a problem).
2 - Motorhome matters.
a) Planned new cambelt £400 (preventative maintenance)
b) Usual service and MOT but new brake Servo needed £200 (brakes only)
c) New Engine battery needed (£100+)
d) Fridge breakdown no 1 near Napoli (160 euros)
e) Fridge breakdown no 2 (different) In Germany (200 euros - 2 garages)
The motorhome in now 12 years old such items are inevitable just a minor glitch in that items b) c) and e) occurred this year. However the motorhome performed well and no accidents or mechanical issues or fines etc.
3 - The tour..
a) France is usually good and we knew of some stopovers.. The road over the Col du Mont-Cenis was an excellent mountain road and not scary ! Interesting that the border with Italy is some way down from the "ridge". This is due to the exploits of a certain Napoleon. Significant other areas in the region have also changed hands a few times !
b) Italy (going south). Some really nice places (Cuneo, Cinque Terre, Pisa, Vinci, Florence, Latina, Lago Sirino)
The museums were all good but the one near Latina was simply brilliant !
c) Sicily OK but not as exciting as I had hoped, Also cheap camping limited however we enjoyed "Breakfast at Tiffany" Siracusa and Mount Etna (Very windy at night)
d) Italy (Near the Adriatic coast). Some lovely stopovers views and towns Matera and Alberobello in Puglia, Rapino and Offagna and San Marino. Finally Venice, Falze di Piave and SanMartino.
Roads were variable but M-ways not too expensive we spent a total of £110 on tolls in Italy with a total distance of 3,300 miles (Italy). The Sicily ferries cost about £90 (for both).
Not on Map
e) Austria, Germany, Belgium and France. We took the old Brenner Pass into Austria and spent 2 nights at Gschnitz with its excellent water museum. The road down to Innsbruck was fine and then over the Fernpass to Germany. The Fernpass was very busy and Slow, Slow, Quick Quick, Slow.
We stayed at Memmingen again and a lovely "farm camp" near Idar Oberstein then towards Belgium and Spa/Francochamps. 2 Handy stops in Belgium before one of our favourite overnights at Richebourg.
Overall good to very good. We spent less time in Sicily than planned. This gave us more time going north in Italy which was handy/needed.
We had 1 very bad night in south Italy with loud young men near us at 3am. No direct hassle but unnerving !
2 other poor nights in Sicily.
1 noisy night (traffic) in south-eastern Italy.
We had several excellent stopovers and camps Cuneo, Greve, Napoli, Lago Sirino, Gioai Tauro, Villa Margi Oasis,
Matera, Rapino, Offagna, Commachio, Falze di Piave and San Martino.
Would I do it again.. No ! Happy to have done it. Would like to return to Italy and spend more time in the North (East & West) and going as far south as Umbria...but not for 2019.
e) Austria, Germany, Belgium and France. We took the old Brenner Pass into Austria and spent 2 nights at Gschnitz with its excellent water museum. The road down to Innsbruck was fine and then over the Fernpass to Germany. The Fernpass was very busy and Slow, Slow, Quick Quick, Slow.
We stayed at Memmingen again and a lovely "farm camp" near Idar Oberstein then towards Belgium and Spa/Francochamps. 2 Handy stops in Belgium before one of our favourite overnights at Richebourg.
Overall good to very good. We spent less time in Sicily than planned. This gave us more time going north in Italy which was handy/needed.
We had 1 very bad night in south Italy with loud young men near us at 3am. No direct hassle but unnerving !
2 other poor nights in Sicily.
1 noisy night (traffic) in south-eastern Italy.
We had several excellent stopovers and camps Cuneo, Greve, Napoli, Lago Sirino, Gioai Tauro, Villa Margi Oasis,
Matera, Rapino, Offagna, Commachio, Falze di Piave and San Martino.
Would I do it again.. No ! Happy to have done it. Would like to return to Italy and spend more time in the North (East & West) and going as far south as Umbria...but not for 2019.