Many friends consider camping a purely wilderness experience. Memories return of childhood outings when they ended up wet, and coming home early, smelling like Smithfield hams. It surely can be a route to places far from civilization, but European camping is usually something very different. It is simply a means of staying in a place you want to visit for a night or more at low cost. There are no campfires or picnic tables. Usually there is a spot to pitch your tent, a toilet-shower block, often a cooking area of hotplates and sinks, a general/grocery/liquor store, a restaurant, a bar, and often a "disco" club that opens between 10:00 and midnight. Public transport is always close at hand, with bus or rail service to various parts of the city. The use of these facilities for 24 hrs. runs from 20 to 30 euros. We'll see what this year's rates will be. Our first couple of nights will be at the Bois de Boulogne in Paris. It couldn't be better located. The last time I stayed there, from the front tent flap I could toss a pebble into the Seine, and look back over my shoulder at the Eiffel tower! The average price across Europe seems to be about 15 - 20 euros a night for two folks with a car and tent. That's under $30.
We do most of our own cooking with a tiny Gaz stove. Single burner. Always have breakfast (eggs, local bread, a sausage or two, coffee, fruit), take something along or eat street or pub food for lunch, and watch the markets for something local to cook for dinner. We seem to rely heavily on sausages, pasta, and veggies. In addition to a small nest of pots and a pan, we usually have squeeze oleo to replace butter and oil, a small 6-spice shaker that Coleman makes, instant coffee (We just get used to it.), and dry creamer. Everything else we try to buy locally. One additional item we like is powdered margurita mix, like they use in the bar machines. After a long, hot day. . . a little Jose Quervo, a couple of limes, a little ice, . . .and we're hydrated and restored to full health! "Chock full'o vitamins and minerals!"
One dawn, high above Jackson Hole, I stuck my head and an arm far enough out of the sleeping bag to light the stove under the coffee pot, without waking Jody. When the pot steamed, I silently measured the coffee and powdered creamer into the cups, poured, stirred, and passed her the cup as she awakened. We were open to the east and watched as the colors changed and the sun rose over Wyoming. I hadn't been paying much attention to the coffee, when Jody broke the silence to ask, "What is this lime-flavored coffee?" The bag of creamer was still zipped. I'd used the margarita mix! Too much citrus for breakfast, but we didn't have any trouble with rickets the entire trip!
I've never bothered with icing a cooler in Europe. Ice used to be hard to find. We did carry a six-pack sized soft cooler on the bike trip to Canada. It usually leaked more than it held. We are taking a tiny 12V fridge on this trip. Holds a tall six-pack. Should be fun in the car, but it takes up precious space in the luggage. Eating like locals, and sleeping under nylon, we like to think that, outside of transportation and admissions, we spend little more on the road than we do at home. When we do eat out, we try to eat local products and make it memorably special.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Weigh, Measure, Compress again . . . .
Friends ask, "How can you pack everything you'll need for two months, including your tent, mattresses, cooking gear, electronics, clothing, books, and your toothbrushes?" We usually reply that we managed it pretty comfortably on the cycle ride to Canada a couple of summers back. With a little car, how tough can this be?
We've been concerned about the Renault's trunk size - 10 cu.ft. The box is pictured elsewhere on this blog. Now we're distributing all gear into two checked bags (measuring L+W+ H not to exceed 62" and 50lbs.) and two carry ons (about 22"H x 14"W x 9"Deep). After some multiplication, it's easy to see that the checked bags can hold 15,360 cu.in. of gear, and the carry ons can total 5,544, for a total of 20,904 cu.in. 10 cu. ft. equal 17,280 cu. in. But finding bags of the right size is tough. A duffel tonight at Walmart holds 5,564 and collapses flat for the trunk. It's nice, and it's inexpensive, but it leaves 2000 cu. in. on the table; 4,000 for a pair of them. There are a dozen bags around this house, but only one or two of the right sizes. Fortunately, weight doesn't seem to be an issue - yet.
We've been concerned about the Renault's trunk size - 10 cu.ft. The box is pictured elsewhere on this blog. Now we're distributing all gear into two checked bags (measuring L+W+ H not to exceed 62" and 50lbs.) and two carry ons (about 22"H x 14"W x 9"Deep). After some multiplication, it's easy to see that the checked bags can hold 15,360 cu.in. of gear, and the carry ons can total 5,544, for a total of 20,904 cu.in. 10 cu. ft. equal 17,280 cu. in. But finding bags of the right size is tough. A duffel tonight at Walmart holds 5,564 and collapses flat for the trunk. It's nice, and it's inexpensive, but it leaves 2000 cu. in. on the table; 4,000 for a pair of them. There are a dozen bags around this house, but only one or two of the right sizes. Fortunately, weight doesn't seem to be an issue - yet.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Theatre Tickets
One important sidelight. The box offices in Europe from which we have tried to prepurchase tickets, seem to have no facility for holding one's tickets at the office until the patron collects them on performance day, the facility we and the Brits refer to as "will call." In each case, they would mail the tickets to us here in the states. . .if there were time. Even if there were, I'd rather not carry them through 40 or 50 campgrounds before we need them. I guess we'll buy what is available at the door . . .and see what we can!
May 15th - Less than two weeks to go.
In addition to the classic theatres of Greecian and Roman origin, we should be able to see at least 25 or 30 historic theatres built between 1500 and about 1900 though the courtesy of PERSPECTIV - the Association of Historic Theatres in Europe. They have devolped several "theatre trails" in Europe and we will be following parts of three of them through several countries.
My daughter came home this weekend, looked over our itinerary and cautioned us about driving south from Dubrovnik, skirting Bosnia and Albania, since Renault doesn't insure the Wind through those countries. She visited in the area last summer and had several difficult encounters. She thinks the new Renault will attract the wrong kind of attention. She painted a picture of having one's passport taken, and spending months recovering it. I spent a few hours checking on the ferries from Dubrovnik to Bari, Italy, then driving down the coast to Brindisi from which we could sail to Igouemenista, Greece. Today, after finishing the home-handyman-variety lawn sprinkling system, I compared mileages; from Budapest to Dukbrovnic, and from Budapest to Bari via Venice, around the top of the Adriatic. It would be 237 additional driving miles up against a 203 euro ($289)ferry ride. It wouldn't be a question at all if we hadn't been in and out of Venice for a couple of weeks just two years ago.
The original plan of driving to Greece involved the Igouemenista-Brindisi ferry on the return, to get us across the Adriatic and come north through Italy. The change above means two crossings on the Brindisi ferry, a round trip for about the same cost as the single Drubrovic ferry crossing. It does appear that we will disembark in Greece at 3:00am and head for Meteora. Sunrise with the Monks, I guess.
My daughter came home this weekend, looked over our itinerary and cautioned us about driving south from Dubrovnik, skirting Bosnia and Albania, since Renault doesn't insure the Wind through those countries. She visited in the area last summer and had several difficult encounters. She thinks the new Renault will attract the wrong kind of attention. She painted a picture of having one's passport taken, and spending months recovering it. I spent a few hours checking on the ferries from Dubrovnik to Bari, Italy, then driving down the coast to Brindisi from which we could sail to Igouemenista, Greece. Today, after finishing the home-handyman-variety lawn sprinkling system, I compared mileages; from Budapest to Dukbrovnic, and from Budapest to Bari via Venice, around the top of the Adriatic. It would be 237 additional driving miles up against a 203 euro ($289)ferry ride. It wouldn't be a question at all if we hadn't been in and out of Venice for a couple of weeks just two years ago.
The original plan of driving to Greece involved the Igouemenista-Brindisi ferry on the return, to get us across the Adriatic and come north through Italy. The change above means two crossings on the Brindisi ferry, a round trip for about the same cost as the single Drubrovic ferry crossing. It does appear that we will disembark in Greece at 3:00am and head for Meteora. Sunrise with the Monks, I guess.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
May 15 - Two weeks to departure!
In addition to theatres of Greek and Roman origin, we will be visiting at least two dozen theatres built beween 1500 and around 1900. PERSPECTIV - the Association of Historic Theatres in Europe has organized several "theatre trails" around Europe:
"To make it as easy for you as possible to experience this very special European cultural heritage, selected historic theatres are being connected up to form a European Route of Historic Theatres. The European Route consists of various part routes, each combining about 10 theatres, offering a pleasant journey of about a week.
In autumn 2007, the first part route was inaugurated: the German Route. Since then the European Route expands every year. Watch it grow and try the Nordic Route that will take you to unique historic theatres in Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Go on holiday in the south and visit the oldest theatres in Europe plus some very special private theatres on the Italian Route. Live like a prince and follow the Emperor Route to theatres of the nobility in the Czech Republic and Austria. And learn everything about historic theatres in Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK on the Channel Route"
We also hope to see a number of performances; a short list appears on another entry in this blog. Purchasing these ahead of time, and having them at the box office on arrival would be very convenient. Apparently we should have firmed up our itinerary earlier, because at both the Commedie Francais and the Bregenz Opera Festival, two of our "must sees," there is no provision for what we know as "will call." They want only to mail you the tickets. Now it is just too late. I had held off until we were really committed to the trip and to specific dates, since some of these tickets are not inexpensive. The medium ticket for Bregenz in $125.
Very hard to believe that they have no facility to hold your tickets until the afternoon of the performance. It seems unlikely there will be tickets available to purchase on the day of performance. But, as Jody said, we really want to see the setting in the lake, and we may be able to take the tour during the day for 10 euros each. . .and save a couple of hundred for another event. A possibility!
It should be noted that both of these companies, French and Austrian, replied to my email inquiries rapidly and with great kindness and concern. Amazing how a little politeness and civility can smooth a difficult situation.
Packing - We have started. The Renault Wind has only 10 cu. ft. of trunk space, whether the top is up or down. Having camped on the Harley Softail for 7,000 miles a couple of summers ago, we should be able to fit everything. Just to be on the safe side, I built a luan box, 2'-0" square and 2'-6" tall, exactly 10 cu. ft. Everything has to fit in "The Box." We've loaded all of the camping equipment, which is really our housing, bedroom and kitchen for the summer. The box is about 2/3 full. It looks like we'll be fine. How we get all the gear on the plane is still a bit of a question. Last time we went to Italy, we put all of the camping gear in my backpack, and all of the clothing in Jody's. My bag was three days late to Venice, causing us to rent a campground bungalow for three nights and drive in to the airport everyday to check on the bag that had been shipped to the Carolinas. This time we will try to split the contents so we won't be without a major component. Looking at a checked bag each, and a carry-on each. We should be fine.
"To make it as easy for you as possible to experience this very special European cultural heritage, selected historic theatres are being connected up to form a European Route of Historic Theatres. The European Route consists of various part routes, each combining about 10 theatres, offering a pleasant journey of about a week.
In autumn 2007, the first part route was inaugurated: the German Route. Since then the European Route expands every year. Watch it grow and try the Nordic Route that will take you to unique historic theatres in Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Go on holiday in the south and visit the oldest theatres in Europe plus some very special private theatres on the Italian Route. Live like a prince and follow the Emperor Route to theatres of the nobility in the Czech Republic and Austria. And learn everything about historic theatres in Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK on the Channel Route"
We also hope to see a number of performances; a short list appears on another entry in this blog. Purchasing these ahead of time, and having them at the box office on arrival would be very convenient. Apparently we should have firmed up our itinerary earlier, because at both the Commedie Francais and the Bregenz Opera Festival, two of our "must sees," there is no provision for what we know as "will call." They want only to mail you the tickets. Now it is just too late. I had held off until we were really committed to the trip and to specific dates, since some of these tickets are not inexpensive. The medium ticket for Bregenz in $125.
Very hard to believe that they have no facility to hold your tickets until the afternoon of the performance. It seems unlikely there will be tickets available to purchase on the day of performance. But, as Jody said, we really want to see the setting in the lake, and we may be able to take the tour during the day for 10 euros each. . .and save a couple of hundred for another event. A possibility!
It should be noted that both of these companies, French and Austrian, replied to my email inquiries rapidly and with great kindness and concern. Amazing how a little politeness and civility can smooth a difficult situation.
Packing - We have started. The Renault Wind has only 10 cu. ft. of trunk space, whether the top is up or down. Having camped on the Harley Softail for 7,000 miles a couple of summers ago, we should be able to fit everything. Just to be on the safe side, I built a luan box, 2'-0" square and 2'-6" tall, exactly 10 cu. ft. Everything has to fit in "The Box." We've loaded all of the camping equipment, which is really our housing, bedroom and kitchen for the summer. The box is about 2/3 full. It looks like we'll be fine. How we get all the gear on the plane is still a bit of a question. Last time we went to Italy, we put all of the camping gear in my backpack, and all of the clothing in Jody's. My bag was three days late to Venice, causing us to rent a campground bungalow for three nights and drive in to the airport everyday to check on the bag that had been shipped to the Carolinas. This time we will try to split the contents so we won't be without a major component. Looking at a checked bag each, and a carry-on each. We should be fine.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)