Benifallet & Javea

After a great time in Barca, we started to make our way to Javea, where we have a 5 day stop over to recharge.

We had a couple of stops on the way down, the first was in Cambrils, where we met Sue and Andrew for a couple of drinks. Bob knows Sue and Andrew through the Sunday night pub quiz team in the Sportsman on Benty Lane in Sheffield. As they were in Cambrils and we were passing through it would have been rude not to meet up.

After Cambrils we overnighted in a small village called Benifallet where Bobs friend Pete and his wife June live. Unfortunately we weren't able to stay with them as when they heard we were coming they had to go back back to England for an appointment. (Just bad timing I think!)

Barcelona - Mosquito, Fastnet and Nick from Colorado.

Barcalona what a city! Due to good planning or maybe good fortune we arrived on the fiesta of St Joan or mid summer solstice. Fireworks, fires and drumming bands.

When we arrived we went for a walk round the old quarter we saw the Sagrada Familia, Arc de Triomf and walked up Las Ramblas. In the early evening fireworks were randomly being let off and drumming bands with crowds following them were sambering through the streets. A great atmosphere was starting to build.

We decided to have something to eat and found a restaurant called Mosquito, with a Chinese tapas menu and a range of beers from around the world. Both the food and beers were excellent, and the staff very helpful. They told us to go to the beach to see the best of the festival.

Argeles

After a couple of days in Frejus we moved on to Argeles which is in the foot hills of the Pyrenees. The mountains provide a stunning backdrop to the town.

We had made good time on the journey, arriving before the mobile was ready for us. While waiting we thought we would take advantage of the pool. All the campsites we have been on have their own set of rules and regulations unique to them. The warning signs in Argeles were there when we entered the pool area and there were two bronzed lifeguards strutting around a pool the size of a bath tub.

Menton to Monaco and Frejus

We left Menton and drove down the coast road to Monaco and Monte Carlo. It was a stunning drive with fantastic scenery. We parked the van in the casino car park in between a Bentley convertible and a Lamborghini. We went for an explore round the marina and walked part of the Grand Prix circuit. Don't think we bumped into anyone famous but to be honest I could have been stood next to someone and I wouldn't have known!

After Monaco we continued the drive to Frejus and our next camp site. Up until now the campsite sat nav coordinates have been pretty reliable. However this time they took us to what looked like the farm used for the 'Carry on Camping' film. After driving round Frejus for the 4th time we decided we should give in and read the directions we'd been given. Then as if by magic we found the proper campsite! The sat nav is now in the bin!

Milan to Menton

Milano was interestng and I left thinking that I would like to come back at some point and explore the city a bit further.

The hotel had a car park where you leave the car on a lift and then it disappears and its autoparked in a 'box' somewhere underground. We didn't realise this so when we arrived at reception they asked us for our passports which of course are in the van. So they have to retrieve the van - 15 mins later with passports in hand and the van safely back in another box we got to our room. It then dawned on us that all our bags are still in the van! They were very good with us when we plucked up the courage to get the van out for a second time!

Venice

After a couple of chill out days in Coatia we packed up and drove back through Slovenia into Italy.

The campsite site in Ca'Savio is set amongst pine trees and fronted by an endless sandy beech. Having checked in our first task was to find a bar showing the England match.  As we were playing Italy we expected high excitement, but it all felt a bit subdued.

With a suitable bar selected we donned our '66 England shirts and made our way to 'Dave's bar (not the proper name he just looked like a Dave I used to work with) and braced ourselves for the game.

Salzburg and Croatia

Its only a week since we left home, but with the amount we have crammed in during that time it feels as though we have been away for a lot longer.

So far we have covered 7 countries and approx 1200 miles since we set off, now that we are in Croatia we have a couple of rest days and of course the start of the world cup.

The sound of music tour was excellent, visiting some of the more recognisable locations from the movie and managing to fit in some singing on the coach as we travelled around. Did you know that the house and garden scenes were filmed in two separate locations so when you see Maria in the garden talking to Herr Von Trapp with his back to the house they were some considerable distance apart! That's Hollywood for you.

Day 4&5 Munich

We are having some problems loading photos, so I'm hoping that the blogger fairy at home can work some magic for me. In the meantime we have posted some photos on Facebook and Twitter.

The journey from Dusseldorf to Munich was our longest drive of the trip approx 7 hours with stops. We had the air con working full blast (both windows were open) and I ended up with the 'bus drivers arm' (right arm bright red).

Munich has been good, but very hot 34°+. We have done the touristy Hofbrauhaus and had plenty of white sausage (not a euphemism) and sauerkraut.

Day 1-3 Euro Tour

We are on day 3 of the grand tour. We are cracking on at a fair pace and the weather so far has been unbelievable.

We set off with the van packed to the rafters and England flags flying proudly from the van windows.

We made good time to Eurotunnel and as we passed through passport control being two blokes in a white van we duly were asked to pull into the customs inspection line. Once the back door to the van was opened the customs guy took one look and and obviously thought life was too short and waived us through.

First stop was Bruges, the hotel was good and our host very hospitable. We had a good chat about our European tour and all the countries we would be visiting. She then asked if we could move the van to a car park approx 100 yds down the road, yes no problem - 30 minutes later we appeared back at the hotel having got lost driving round Bruges, you could see this woman thinking how on earth are they going to get round Europe if they can't find a car park at the end of the road!

The Baston Bakery

A selection of our breads

Friday was bread making day with Paul the Baker Dawn and Meg joined me to do battle with the dough and make some good home made bread.

Paul arrived with bags of flour and just about every utensil you could possibly need to make and bake bread. We started with sourdough and progressed to crusty French and then wholemeal bread. It wasn't long before the kitchen had a good coating of flour and the aroma of home made bread started to fill the air.

We learnt lots of good tips, especially to be confident with the dough and not let it sense any fear! There was a sense of healthy competition as to who was going to bake the best bread, and we made our own distinct cuts on top of the bread so we could identify each loaf as it came out of the oven. In the end it really didn't matter, they all looked and tasted beautiful. we even managed to make some plaited bread and bread sticks for good measure. When we had finished the kitchen looked like a flour mill and we had a mountain of bread to eat. We were all suitably proud of our efforts, it really was proper 'artisan bread'.