pictures from Czech Rep

Kate and Rachel learning Polish in an underground restaurant in Frydek Mistek (or Fried egg mistake as we insisted on calling it)


Excellent Soviet-era Lada - one of many
Mucha stained glass window in Prague Cathedral and random statue in Prague

Poland to Austria

Have been incredibly lame at updating this I realise, sorry! OK, about a month ago we went to Krakow, which was lovely, reminded me of Prague in some ways but without so many tourists and tat vendors. Roads in Poland terrible, with potholes and extreme rutting, so we nearly shook the van to pieces. Went to the salt mines in Wielicza which are quite kitsch - a lot of gnomes sulptured out of salt - but also amazing cathedral all underground carved from salt as well. Dropped off Dan and Rachel at the airport then crossed 3 borders in one day in epic drive through Czech Rep. and Slovakia to Austria. Stayed in Vienna (well outside in the forest nearby) which had loads of cool Baroque buildings but was v expensive compared to all the places we had been to recently.

Germany and Czech Republic

First of all Germany - we headed for Munich for Oktoberfest which rocked our world(s?) - lots of drinking steins of beer and dancing on tables to an odd mixture of traditional songs and Bon Jovi medleys. Munich itself is really cool, lots of people in lederhosen and dirndls which pleased me greatly. After recovering from our hangovers we then went to Neuschwanstein, a fairytale castle near the Austrian border which was cool in a kitsch sort of way, but unfortunately it was v misty so we couldn´t see the Alps behind. Then went to Nuremberg and ate a lot of sausages (a running theme throughout the country) and walked around the city walls and old town. Tried to get some small adjustments to the van in a place called Chemnitz where we were helped out by a man who turned out to be another customer, but realised we cannot fix the ongoing gas bottle problem (long story, not dangerous but annoying) until we are back in the UK.

Then spent a lovely day in Dresden, which has been rebuilt and restored massively after WWII but all the old buildings are still blackened with smoke. Went on a big wheel ride like the London Eye for views of the whole city. Will did not make this, with his ´´entirely rational´´ fear of heights but Rachel, Dan and I did, with some German old man who kept muttering to himself.

Crossed the border into the Czech Republic with little fuss then realised no Euro so had to reconvert our brains to deal with Korunas instead. Felt pretty cool carrying around 1000 Kč notes (worth about 25 quid)! Prague was lovely, not as touristy as I had feared apart from the Charles Bridge area, then we went on to Brno in the south east and then stopped in Olomoucs for about an hour as it was getting dark and driving at night is not much fun. Stayed over in a brutally East European motel one night, over-advertised massively in the brochure they leave in your room - but they forgot to mention the overriding odour of pigshit for some reason. Weird, I know.

Off to Krakow tomorrow, from where Dan and Rachel are leaving us to fly back home. Will hopefully get some more photos up soon.

Sorry for missing weeks...

First of all the problems encountered in Portugal, this time in visual format:


























Managed to blast through Galicia and the whole north coast of Spain in two days so that we were in time to meet Rachel and Dan in Bordeaux, sadly unable to sample the culinary delights as much as we had hoped, but squeezed in an afternoon in Santiago de Compostela (sneered at by pilgrims because of our lack of bags and staffs etc and obvious tourist demeanour!) and had lunch in rather nicer place than our usual efforts in San Sebastian, despite the pouring rain. This is the facade of the Cathedral in Santiago:



Rain followed us in fact all the way to Bordeaux and beyond, though I did have a lovely birthday and it was really cool meeting up with my family even though it was just for a few hours - made up for that with lovely dinner and much wine, mmmm.

Got some prezzies too, which I was allowed to open despite being technically the night before my actual birthday, but I'm sure the time difference made that OK...






Didn't see a lot of Bordeaux as it rained the entire time and we couldn't park anywhere in the centre, so headed north east through France to Chartres, which was beautiful, and then Versailles which was gaudy and wrong, some kind of MTV cribs pastiche way ahead of its time. Impressive though, if just in scale. Proof we were in France: the mighty Johnny Hallyday, in tat format. And Dan.

We love Portugal

But it doesn´t love the van. We couldn´t get started one morning so had to call a mechanic the next day (obviously they don´t work on Sundays) and then after we were finally on the road again we had a blow-out on the back right hand tyre just as we were about to cross the border into Spain. Luckily some really nice Portuguese people (who spoke English AND were handy under the bonnet) helped us out each time, otherwise we would have had to stay there for good - not so bad, on the Atlantic coast... Photos to follow. So basically had to bomb it back through Galicia, only stopping briefly in Santiago de Compostela and over night in San Sebastian (which is wetter than Bristol, though people are still swimming in the sea) before heading up to France again. Will let you know if we get there! Love to all K and W xx

Photos so far

Finally found somewhere to do photos, so here are a selection, up to September 9:



Toledo cathedral



Will at Benicassim campsite



Charlie, Will and Ben at Pacha in Torrevieja



Kate eating pudding with what looks like washing up liquid poured on it



Meal out with Will´s cousins in Tossa de Mar



Will "El Capitaine" driving the camper

Salamanca

Have just about recovered from almost a week in Torrevieja with Ben and Charlie - had a really good time and even managed to persuade Will to come to Pacha! Lots of late nights though, as they don´t shut their bar until the last person leaves... But since then we have been to Toledo which was fantastic, and Madrid for an afternoon - got pissed off with hecticness and traffic, plus parking the van was a nightmare! Maybe another time we´ll go by train. Also decided not to go to Lisbon for the same reason, so now we are heading north west to Galicia, spending last night in Avila and a couple of hours today in Salamanca. They are having some kind of fiesat which means everyone is dressed up in traditional garb trying to peddle "authentic" tat - my kind of scene as you know. Still no photo facilities here, sorry, but will try to send some soon.

Van is doing OK but has developed a certain odour over the last few weeks - not sure entirely what this is due to but I have my suspicions (Will+Thetford=mayhem). Sorry to have missed Dan and Simon´s birthdays, hope all had a cool time. Weather is still boiling hot, and we had a cool electrical storm the night before last - although we were out in it so had to speedwalk home - I can´t run in soggy flipflops. Love to all, K&W xx

Tarragona

Is a really lovely place we spent a few hours in yesterday, recovering from a late night out in Tossa with Chris and Jack - we ended up hitching home to the campsite as there were no taxis that late - oops! I have some stupid photos but again no facility to put them up yet - I´ll try again later. Been driving down the Costas Brava and Alzahar on our way to Alicante - I think this is when things could take a turn for the surreal and am a little scared. I saw Giles when he came back from there a while ago!

Stayed in Benicassim last night which seems v pleasant, but strangely empty, as I think all the Spanish kids have gone back to school. Nicer for us, but I am a little worried that not all campsites will be open all year round, still, it´s nice not to have to bother with actual holiday camps any more! Time for more wild camping I reckon.

Will has been playing one song on the guitar for the whole three weeks so far. I am beginning to go mad, and am seriously thinking about selling it to some urchin... Apart from that everything is cool, no fights yet!!

Please let me know any gossip from home, and also email your address if you would like some kind of utterly tasteful postcard. This means you, Lizzie, as I have been sitting on one for two weeks not able to send it!

Love ´n´ stuff

K ´n´ W

Tossa de Mar...

...is where we have got to now, just near Lloret de Mar, which is hideous. But Tossa is actually very nice, lovely campsite, clean beaches etc. Had nice day in Girona, medieval city but not nearly as packed as Carcassonne was, and now have met up with Will´s cousins the Croissants. Will update in more detail later as running out of credit aaargghhh!!

no habla espagnol

We have finally crossed the border into Spain, after visiting Carcassonne (incredibly busy and touristy but still cool) and Narbonne plage, where we were treated to a beach-side concert by some kind of banjo playing band despite the rain which is still following us wherever we go. Will is being plagued by the lack of adequate public toilet facilities, though we are hoping a change of country may remedy this. I won´t go into details. Sorry have forgotten camera again so no more photos, but I will update soon.

We are currently in Figueres, Catalunya, hoping to go to the Dali museum, and then heading on to Girona tomorrow. Also if anyone fancies a trip to Bordeaux I will be celebrating my birthday there with my family and Rachel and Dan - I know it´s a bit of a way but still thought I´d mention it! Will be going out somewhere on 16th Sept (a Saturday) then my actual birthday is the following day.

About to try and find out if there are any bands playing the continent while we are here - if anyone has any tips please let us know. I´ve heard AC/DC are often on tour...

La Chenaie

Hi, we are at my parents' house after spending two days "wild camping" i.e. not at a campsite which is great from a financial point of view, being free, and also meant that we weren't surrounded by screaming kids the whole time, but we did have several issues like running out of electricity and water. Just minor details then. And after having been a party to the emptying of the Thetford toilet cassette (retching the whole time I'm afraid) there is now a no stool rule, which meant sprinting into town as soon as the cafes opened on a couple of occasions. I don't think we will be welcomed back to Rochefort-en-Terre unfortunately, as this was only the epilogue to an evening spent drinking with a French Elvis impersonator and his entourage--much bad Franglais ensued.

Anyway, a couple of pics so far (mostly of Cornwall, but more to follow)...

Nous sommes en France

Bienvenue au blog francais. Not really. My French isn't up to it, and I am struggling with the French keyboard which is different. We are staying in a posh campsite in Brittany near Quimper, and think we have finally got the iPod working - result! But I can't put up any pictures as there is no available USB port, so I will leave you all with bated breath (again). Had to leave the ferry at 7am English time so both of us nearly fell asleep and had to pull over by the side of the road for a nap earlier, but at last I have actually driven the camper rather than being chauffered around by Will.

Last night's sojourn in Plymouth was an experience we won't be repeating - once we got over the Scouse crack whores at the docks we then had our dinner soundtrack provided by joyriding children screaming racist abuse at passers-by. Roscoff seemed much tamer by comparison, although I suppose it was a little early for any debauchery when we drove through this morning. Hoping to be at La Chenaie by the weekend, also if anyone fancies a trip to Galicia we are hoping to be there during the first week of September. Will be more precise soon, I promise!

Love K and W xx

Bye bye England, Bonjour la belle France!

Sorry no photo as I have forgotten to bring my camera in (dunce!) but have had a lovely week in Cornwall - partly prompted by an amount of work needed on the van and also the need for more supplies such as legal requirements for leaving the country (oops), food, you know, boring details. Saw a lot of Pete and was impressed by his extreme level of Cornish nationalism, culminating in a tirade against some imperialist pig infiltrators (Morris dancers crossing the "border" from Devon). Lots of coastal walks and early nights I'm afraid - the trip is certainly lacking in debauchery so far, partly due to the fact that as we are usually reliant on solar lighting, once that fails we have no choice but to go to bed immediately. We are getting the ferry to Roscoff tonight, and then pootling down the west coast of Brittany towards Rochefort-en-Terre, then heading for my parents' place at the weekend. I use the word "pootle" advisedly as we have real trouble getting up hills. And going down hills. And driving on the level. Enough of that, I'm sure I will moan on later, but Istanbul is looking less and less likely. And by the way Lindsay, you are the only one I know, so you don't have to use a dodgy prefix to your name in the comments! Love to all, Kate 'n' Will xxx

The Mystery Machine

So today is the first day of my and Will's journey round Europe for three months, in this beautiful beast:

So far ideas for his name have revolved around variations on a German theme: Dieter, Jurgen etc etc, but if anyone thinks of any more please let us know.

First stop is as far as Taunton(!) to pick up supplies from a motorhome dealer, then onwards to Cornwall and hopefully France by the end of the week. Then on to Alicante, to see Ben and Charlie, back up to Galicia and then to Bordeaux to meet up with fellow travellers (or work-shy meisters) Dan and Rachel.

I will attempt to keep this blog up-to-date to let anyone who is interested in coming to see us know our rough itinerary, but to the probable surprise of absolutely no-one we are a bit vague still! Also I believe Giles will be keeping some kind of book as to how far we actually get - I am hoping for Istanbul but apparently some people seem to think that is optimistic!

Also please get in touch via the comments page or email, or by text, as both our phones work abroad.

iPod hell

I am trying to transfer our entire music collection onto Will's iPod (which is, of course, just past the warranty date) and it is giving me shit. Big time. Why does technology hate me???

If anyone knows why it might stop updating when it gets to the letter "G" i.e. not even halfway through, claiming an unknown error (-36) occurred, I would be most grateful for your help. Although at least I have Gary Numan to listen to now. Also how do you delete stuff once it's on there by mistake? Obviously this is probably elementary but having heard stories of iPod's inept customer services I thought it might be easier to just ask.

And yes, I do know my arse from my elbow, honest.

Nice blogging, Warney

super sweet words of wisdom from my hero. Had to share, but now am off t'pub, though I promise this will be updated in offensive detail as soon as I stop work (this weekend) hurrah!

Oh, how I love John Carpenter

And especially since I found this. In particular Episode 2 of Big Trouble in Little South Park, which soothed my hangover no end. It's not been a productive day, but there has been joy! Also I'm very tempted by the idea of purchasing a replica wife-beater, though not sure if I'll mullet up to complete the look.

Also I cannot fathom how it managed to bomb at the box office, it's obviously up there in Carpenter's top three films. And Kurt Russell's, the other two being Escape from New York, and The Thing. Hang on, I feel some kind of film-watching marathon coming on...

Not-so-secret shame

OK, I realise that no-one will probably want to speak to me any more, but I have to ask:

Does anyone have a copy of Foreigner's "Hot Blooded" live version that I could copy? It's on the "Records" album. And I specifically want the live one, not the studio version, if you please.

I have developed a worrying attachment to the song, but am loth to buy a Foreigner album just for one song. And yes I know that they're shit, and most likely no-one would dream of fessing up to owning a copy. Just thought I'd ask...

Another plug

Anyone who hasn't already chuckled at the thought of my sister running like the wind for chariddee, and been moved to the tune of cold hard cash, please empty your wallets now!

runner bean

Friday's child is a Lovely child

Publicity for the greatest band ever (in their words) otherwise known as the Lovely Brothers.

Do I get in free now???