Venice (Day 6 - 2nd April 2012) ! My Birthday !

Day 6 Already and it's my birthday woooo!, Up early today as we are catching the 9am train to Venice, The train station is only 10 minutes walk from the campsite, so a bit of breakfast first and off we trot. Train bang on time and extremely busy, no available seats but it was the same last year and many people got off at Verona, so we were hoping for the same this time round. Approaching Verona and yes it was a mass exodus of folk, finally a seat, as the trip was about 2 hours long i didn't fancy standing all that way. Now sat comfortably i put me ipod on, so did Rees and Sally was reading her Kobo e-reader. Finally we could see the sea approaching and we crossed the bridge linking the mainland with Venice at a snails pace.

View From Bell Tower  Back At Mainland Link Bridge

 Everyone was up itching to be the first off the train, what's the rush i thought, it was chaos. The Train pulled up and we let everyone off before we made the effort. First stop was to buy a tourist map (again) as we forgot to bring the one we got last year, we got the map and a cold drink and sat down on the steps outside the train station and planned our route towards st. Mark's Square. Off we trot through the hoards of visitors, a great deal busier than the same time last year but hopefully the route we planned would divert us away from the main route towards the attractions.

The Clouds cleared away and it became quite warm again, we strolled through the tiny passage ways off the main drag, it looked like we were in the residential area of Venice, only stumbling across shops and cafes every now and then, as it was my birthday we said we would have a meal at lunchtime meaning we had to head back towards the main tourist routes. We found a busy route full off restaurants and cafes all competing for your business, so decided upon one such restaurant (because it had pizza for Rees) and took the weight off our feet. We all ended up having Pizza because it looked bloody lovely.

Top Of St. Marks Basilica

Dinner finished, off we stroll to look for St. Mark's Square, we turned down the side of the restaurant and there it was, we were literally yards away and didn't realise. The amount of people there was astounding, you were bumping into people constantly and if you've visited here before you will know it's a large area. We made sure we kept our valuables close by as this is a pickpockets paradise. Took plenty of photo's, although Rees plays a game where he likes to walk in front of the camera just as you are about to shoot, it's a good job these days you can just delete a photo with one click. Then we came across a large queue of people, ah! the bell tower is open to go up (Last year it was closed down for building work), let's do it as it may be our last trip here we might not get another chance. The queue and 8 euro each charge for the lift was well worth it, the views were incredible.

Another View From The Bell Tower (Campanile)

Sally & Rees In Front Of The Bridge Of Sighs

Time was now against us and we had to get back to the train station for the 5pm Train. But We had on last attraction which we were unable to see last year due to building work and that was the Bridge of Sighs, it's just next to the square so not too far to walk. Thankfully this time up was in full view. The Name behind this bridge is that it was a link bridge between the two prisons, and inmates would cross it and see the amazing views across the water and give a sigh (or so i was told).
It was now time to make our way back to the train station, we would take the main tourist route back as this would lead us over the ' Rialto Bridge '

Rialto Bridge

Back at the train station in plenty of time, our feet were killing but it was well worth it, Venice is one of those places you could never get bored of visiting, and it was a great birthday present.

Returned to the campsite just after 7pm, this was our last night at Lake Garda as we were leaving in the morning for pastures new. A great start to the holiday let's hope it carries on this way.

Guide To Venice

A Chilled Day (Day 5 - 1st April 2012)

Still tired from the long drive down so today we were going to have a quiet day and get refreshed for our trip to Venice tomorrow. Rees wanted to play on the Xbox so me and Sally had a quiet walk for a couple of hours.

Monument By The Harbour Peschiera Del Garda

We headed back into the town, today was a lot cooler and quite windy but the town was very busy again with tourists. We found a nice little cafe and both had a latte (Can't get enough of these), we thought we would walk around the harbour area as we had not been here before, the wind was strong off the lake and quite cool, a big difference from yesterday. We headed back towards the shopping area and came across a candle making shop, we were amazed that all the candles were hand made and out of this world. We watch a young lady making a design and decided that the candles would make nice presents for our parents, so a candle each for our mum's and because they were so good we had to buy one for ourselves. This now sits proud on top of the fire surround at home.

So with the cobwebs well blown off we headed back to the campsite and just relaxed for the rest of the day, in preparation for tomorrows trip to Venice.

Camping Butterfly - Peschiera Del Garda (Day 4 - 31st March 2012)

Arrived on the campsite around 10am, now we had arrived it didn't seem 5 minutes ago since we were last here but a full year had passed. This is the first site we were able to use our ACSI camping card, saving us about 2 Euro per night, this would work out over the holiday to be a worthy purchase.Booked into pitch number 24 (Last years pitch 36 was already taken, this was a prime spot next to the pool area), well away in the corner, nice and quiet. The site was a lot busier than last year, only spotted a couple of English Motorhomes, the rest were made up of Dutch & Germans but all were very friendly. The weather was great, sunny and hot. We decided after setting up we would take a leisurely stroll into the town which was extremely busy with tourists.

Aerial View Of Peschiera Del Garda

Yes 3 Hours Later The Sunburn Struck

The town itself is lovely and has plenty of restaurants & cafes which given the heat a refreshing cold drink was needed, like the typical English tourist i decided to wear shorts and a vest (No Suncream) and that evening it was evident i had the shape of a vest on my body left behind by the sunburn. So it looked as if we were in for some great weather this holiday, after last years heatwave and 14 days of solid sun and high temperatures it looked like it was going to be the same. How Wrong We Were. Anyway we decided we would stay here for 3 days before heading further south into Italy. The rest of today would just be relaxing on the campsite.

Rees In His I'm Cool Pose By The Lake

On the way back to the site we decided to go to the train station and purchase tickets for a trip to Venice, we went here last year and loved every minute of it. And as it was my birthday on the Monday (2nd April) we thought it would be nice to spend the day there. The price of the tickets was 50 Euro return for the 3 of us which was quite reasonable.

Sunset Over Lake Garda

Tickets bought we headed back to relax for the rest of the day, maybe beat Rees at table tennis again, or he would beat me on Fifa12 on the Xbox. (Xbox i hear you say on holiday, yes indeed he could not live for 2 weeks without it so it has to come, it also doubles up as a DVD player so it does come in useful)

Finally at sunset we went to the lake which is by the entrance to the campsite, just for some fresh air. The views were stunning. It seemed a million miles from the hustle & bustle of Sheffield.


Camping Butterfly

Arlon to Garda (Day 3 - 30th March 2012)

Early start today, getting ready for a long drive. Left Arlon about 9am, our first stop was to fill up with diesel in Luxembourgh. Diesel topped up to the brim, 200 Benson & Hedges and I'm ready for the road ahead. Following the same route as last year (toll free thanks to Russell's route from motorhomefacts) passing by Nancy, Metz, heading for Mullhouse where the route takes you through some great scenery.

My Little Baby

Sally & Rees Taking A Few Pics

 Once past Mullhouse back onto the motorway and heading for the Swiss border at Basel. This is where you buy your vignette for about 35Euro's, giving you use of the motorway system. Love driving through Switzerland,some great scenery lots of tunnels and fairly quiet on the roads.

Great Views

 Our plan was to park up for a few hours, have a sleep and then drive through the night to Garda. The plan changed, drove past Lake Lucerne and stopped for about an hour at some services 20 mins before the Gottard Tunnel. The time was now about 7.30pm and I decided to continue our drive and reach our destination of Lake Garda as Early as possible so we could park up and have a proper kip so we would be fresh for the following day. Ok so we set off from services and a couple of miles from the Gottard tunnel we hit traffic :( stood still for ages, must be an accident we thought, now we were wishing we had stopped at services but too late for that. Slowly we start to move, then stop, then move. Finally after about an hour we see in the distance that traffic lights were in use, letting through just a small amount of vehicles at once. Once we had cleared this the tunnel entrance beckoned, nearly 17km in length. No idea why they use the traffic light system but there must be a valid reason. Out of the tunnel and our final leg in Switzerland towards the Italian border. Once in Italy we needed diesel, OMG the prices have shot up and are on a par with the UK, wasn't expecting that. Never mind we carried on for our final destination of the day and arrived just after Midnight. Found a nice little car park about a mile from our campsite and got our heads down for the night. A long day driving but well worth it with the progress we made, Let's just say I can't remember my head hitting the pillow.

Arlon Stopover (Day 2 - 29th March 2012)

So the plan is to head towards Camping Butterfly In Peschiera Del Garda (Lake Garda Italy), We stayed here last year and was very impressed with the site and it's location. An extremely long drive to do from Dunkirk in one go so we decided to stop again overnight at Campsite Officiel Arlon, next to the Luxembourg border, so we could refuel with cheap diesel the following morning :). We take a steady drive down taking in a couple of stops on the way in one of the many Aires along the route. We arrive in Arlon around 2pm, we stayed here last year as well so we knew what to expect, No English folk just our neighbours from the Netherlands. Nice little site with free wifi access and only 15 minutes walk from Arlon town centre. Caught up on a little sleep before we headed into Arlon in the evening for a bite to eat. Early to bed ready for an early start for our trip to Garda.

Campsite Officiel Arlon

Arlon Cathedral

Parked Up At Camping Officiel Arlon

Ferry To Dunkirk (Day 2 - 29th March 2012)

Sat in Lane 46 Right at the front, Ferry terminal very quiet. Now i was feeling tired and just wanted to get on the ferry to relax (Not), Onto the ferry we went the second vehicle on (forgot the lorry's), Up the lift we went, all ready for something to eat we headed for a full English breakfast. Tasty but very expensive. All the main seats were littered with people laying down for a kip. Tried my best to have a kip at the table but to no avail. France here we come, The Pashley's on Tour.

Dover (Day 2 - 29th March 2012)

We arrived at Dover in plenty of time, after a short stop at Maidstone services where the plan was to have a couple of hours sleep, It must have been the excitement of the trip but i was wide awake, playing angry birds space, Sally & Rees manage a kip.