John's Travel Blogs

Category: WanderLost

  • Budapest with Ed Sheeran

    We left Slovenia for Budapest, it’s a beautiful city, we found campervan parking within walking distance of the arena, we had tickets for Ed Sheeran.

    John went to the house of terror. It’s a museum dedicated to telling the story of Budapest under the Arrow cross (Nazi afiliated) when Jews were rounded up and sent to a gheto and then on to extermination camps and later when they were ‘liberated’ and came under soviet control. This was a time of fear, suspicion,  reporting your neighbour, people disappearing, anything but free. I have often wondered how much of the news we heard in the West of soviet oppression was western propaganda, and how much was true. I have no doubts now it was as bad as we were told, if not worse.

    On a lighter note… Ed Sheeran was great.

  • Slovenia and Croatia

    We have decided that Slovenia is by far the nicest Country we have visited so far. It’s beautiful, clean and well cared for. Most residents seem to take great care over their gardens and window boxes.

    We visited some limestone caves and a castle built in a cave entrance. The caves were massive, they use a train to take you deep into the mountain, then there is a 90-minute guided walk through a labyrinth of caves.

    The castle was 9km away and equally spectacular.

    Next was Croatia. The plan was to cross the border, stay in Zagreb for a day or two, and then on to Hungary and Budapest. After the beauty of Slovenia, we were unimpressed by the dirty, industrial, graffiti ridden Zagreb. We stopped long enough to get something to eat, wander around a market, and drive back to Slovenia.

    The bright note about our day in Croatia was seeing a billboard advertising an Ed Sheeran concert. Patty found out he was also playing in Budapest Saturday, and she managed to get some bargain tickets online.

    We have spent the last two days at a winery, and we plan to cross to Hungary tomorrow.

  • Dolomites to Slovenia

    We spent about 4 nights in the Dolomite mountains walking, relaxing in the river and skinny dipping in a water hole.

    We are currently at an animal sanctuary near Ljubljana. We plan to cross Slovenia from West to East and go into Hungary toward Budapest.

    Slovenia has been really nice. It’s clean (it scores well on the Patty clean scale), it has well maintained roads, and it appears to be doing well economically. The scenery is stunning, and with only 2 million people, 60% forest coverage and lots of mountains, it’s stunning.

  • Verona and Venice

    Continuing our travels North, we visited the beautiful but very different Cities of Verona and Venice.

    Verona is where the play Romeo and Juliet is based, you may of heard of it, it was written by a guy called William Shakespeare. We visited Juliet’s House (probably not original) with the famous balcony (definitely not original) and a non original replica statue of her outside, apparently the original was removed because of wear from too many boob grabs. The shop however was selling original souvenirs made in China.

    Juliet’s Balcony

    In the evening we went to my first opera. It was in the old (original) Roman arena, so in the open. About half way, the rain started, they paused the show so the musicians could save their instruments. 10 minutes later the rain had stopped, they were back and the show restarted… for about 10 minutes. A few spots if rain…. the show stopped again… then they came back and restarted…. rain and stop again… we gave up and caught the last bus back to the van.

    Next was Venice… now we had low expectations of this, we thought it would be very touristy, smelly and dirty. It wasn’t, it was touristy for sure but the way the city runs with boats and hand carts instead of cars and vans was fascinating. Even DPD and DHL have their our boats. It was also very clean, something Patty especially liked.

    We are now on the Southern edge of the Alps at a beautiful area alongside a river. We will stay a few days before moving on to Slovenia and possibly Croatia.

  • Van problems and touring mid Italy

    In the last month we have been touring Italy, meeting friends and family, and waiting for the van to be fixed… again!

    After spending several days with Patty’s son Julian and his partner Sommer in Rome and then Florence, we then traveled up to Cinque Terre.

    Next, we travelled South to meet friends in Agropoli and then back up to the boat in Fiumicino. Lady Cindy has been lifted out of the water.

    Lady Cindy in Fiumicino

    On the way to Fiumicino, the clutch started making a noise when the pedal was pressed. In Fiumicino we had the clutch replaced and they found missing bolts on the clutch spring plate. The clutch was replaced when the engine was replaced when we were in Wales, so obviously they did a bad job. This is not the first problem with the van since that engine change so you can guess how we feel. But we will put it behind us and optimistically move forward.

    We did a day trip to Rome while waiting for the van. Saw the Spanish steps, visited the John Keats museum (next door to the steps) and the Villa Borghese park.

    Spanish Steps, Rome

    We are now moving North, we are in San Marino at the moment. Its a small Republic surrounded by, but not part of Italy.

    Our plan is to go to Verona, Venice and then travel up through North East Europe.

  • Tivoli – Villa D’Este

    Today we visited Villa D’Este in Tivoli which is a large Renaissance villa from the 16th century famous for its gardens full of fountains and water features. It inspired the Tivoli gardens in Copenhagen .

    Tomorrow Patty’s son arrives with his partner and we will spend a few days in Rome with them.

  • What happened in Wales?

    Last October we stopped sailing in Lady Cindy with the intention of moving to West Wales to complete a three year work contract. Six months later, and we are travelling in a camper van around Europe, and eventually further afield. So what changed?

    Mainly, the job was not as described. I was expecting to be given responsibility, trusted to manage my time, given responsibility for a small budget to get projects started etc. This was not the case and eventually, after being denied an opportunity to discuss issues with the trustees, I resigned.

    While in Wales, Patty and I bought a Renault Master based camper van. Soon after buying it, it developed an engine problem, that is a long story but the bottom line is that we have had a new engine installed as well as new injectors, turbo, clutch etc. We have also done various improvements including a new bed, new water tank etc.

    Our plan is to tour Europe this year, starting where we left off in Lady Cindy, Fiumicino, Rome. At the end of the year, we intend shipping the van to South America where we intend to tour next year. There is more planned that we will reveal nearer the time.

  • A new start in a camper van

    After spending 6 months in West Wales, Patty and I have started our travels again, this time in a Renault Master based camper van. We are currently near Rome having spent the last week preparing Lady Cindy for sale.

    Patty and I will both contribute to this blog, this is just a quick update on whats happening now. In due course, we will blog more about our time in Wales, the van and our future plans.