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August 2, 2010

60 days, hot weather, mosquitoes & cold showers….

Well, we are well on our way to being totally acclimatised to the much warmer weather that we have experienced over the last few weeks. We are quite pleased that we have spent this time in Europe, as it may have been a shock to the system going straight to Africa without feeling a bit of heat.

I know that I mentioned how quickly time flies by in my last 30 day report but it just makes us think of how much or how little one can do in their spare time and learn to appreciate all the time we have…..so what happened in the last 30 days….

Countries & Principalities visited – Italy, San Marino, Vatican City, Monaco & France
Miles Travelled – 1411
Sunny days – 28
Coldest night – the 2nd night in the Dolomites at 2’C
Warmest days – we had two days at 42’C in Sienna & Pisa but have averaged around 35’C for the remainder of the time
Most expensive place to pop to the loo – Venice @ €1.50 a visit!
Most used things out of first aid kit – Anthisan & Antihistamines
Most useful things – the FRIDGE, silk sleeping bag liners, Lidl supermarkets (only for their aircon, good respite breaks from the heat!) & the Land Rovers aircon unit aka the two flaps in front of the dash although you know its warm when Nick asks if you have accidentally turned the heating on!
Least useful things – our warm clothes, aluminium ‘kitchen’ table & our British road atlas

LOWLIGHTS…
1) Being bitten by the most vicious mosquitoes in the Delta region in the North of Italy
2) A campsite wanted to charge us €35 to camp for the night and that didn’t even include electricity!
3) Getting a stale loaf of bread when having ordered a fresh loaf for the morning
4) The fridge is too far away from the back door… I won’t say anymore as Nick has previously written up on the “How Hot You Feel Index”

HIGHLIGHTS…
1) Discovering a campsite that lets you use bicycles for free, great for exploring
2) Hearing a gaggle of older Italian men exclaim “Mamma Mia” during several world cup games
3) Meeting some Alpine cows that were curious enough to want to sniff my shoulder bag…I really like cows for those that don’t know.
4) Meeting new people and the absolute generosity of the people that we have met. We have been given guides, maps, hints & tips on where to go and even been lent books to look at, thank you to everybody who has made our day on these occasions.
5) Visiting Venice, Perugia, Castelluccio, Rome, Sienna, Pisa and some fantastic beaches along the way.
6) Setting up a trampoline, cleaning a pool and making crystals with the boys was great fun whilst staying with good friends in France

RANDOM FACTS…
1) Having cold showers was the way forward for us when it started to get warmer and sometimes was so needed just to relieve the itch from our mozzie bites.
2) We set a new time record on the Monaco F1 circuit…… Dassie definitely managed to make it round in the longest time…and then we got stuck in a traffic jam of Ferrari’s that were doing a London to St Tropez rally….surely we should have taken priority as we were travelling further but unfortunately Dassie just didn’t look spangly & shiny enough.
3) I was awoken by Nick in the middle of the night in Italy, in my sleepy state I thought he said that there was a ‘wild lady’ pulling at our rubbish bag that was attached to Dassie. After much waiting and watching in silence I was quite confused when we saw something on four legs trotting away when I was expecting a hunched over forest lady to walk away. What Nick had actually said was that he thought there was a wild dog but it actually turned out to be a wild pig! Africa will be exciting at this rate.

Nick & Vicki
Stonehenge to Cape Town 2010/11
www.langebaan-sunset.com

France & Italy were spectacular !!

Lonely Planet Discover Italy (Full Color Country Guides)  Lonely Planet Walking in the Alps  Lonely Planet France: Cote d'Azur & Monaco  Lonely Planet France (Country Guide)


1 comment:

Ollie said...

Not long now before the fridge is moved me thinks"