Greece 2017 – Judy and Valerie On the Road

Another day another country!

Now in Luxembourg where we’re staying with my cousin Julia. She has cooked non stop for us with delicious vegetables from her amazing garden.

Bavaria

Ingrid’s beautiful wooden house

Stayed for a few days with a friend in her wonderful house by lake Chiemsee near Munich.

Cycled round the lake and got the paddle ferry back, swam in one of the many lakes in the area and ate delicious food.

Now on our way to Luxembourg, staying in a camperstop in a little town which turns out to be the shoe capital of Germany!

Out of Italy

View from the van at camperstop by the Brenner pass

Started on our way back home today. Now in Austria staying at a CamperStop just by the Brenner Pass. Views are spectacular if cloudy and at last it’s a bit cooler!!

in the morning went for a walk in the woods and found an area where logs were being stored. They were all stacked in gradations of size and made really interesting shapes and patterns.

Stack of logs in the woods by the Brenner pass

A lovely campsite near Siena. On a hill the panoramic views over the beautiful Tuscan landscape are stunning. It’s a largish site with many terraces so somewhere for everyone, has lots of trees but best of all has a proper size swimming pool with a cafe/bar and restaurant. There is also an attractive village within walking distance.

Towards the end of July it will start to get very crowded but at the moment it’s perfect. It looks as though there may be some cycle routes and we’re planning to try those in the next couple of days.

View from the van at Le Soline campsite near Siena

Palazzoni vineyard

We discovered Palazzoni near Orvieto the first time we went camping in Italy in 2000 and have gone back for a further visit whenever we we’ve returned to these parts. They do a delicious golden Orvieto wine and a few years ago started producing a delicious Pinot Grigio. The father of one of the owners is an artist and one whole wall of the office is taken up with a wonderful colourful multi-media picture. Another side of the office is all window overlooking the vineyards and then Orvieto in the distance standing on a volcanic plug. What an amazing environment in which to work.

Wonderful picture by one of the owners at Palazzoni

Olive oil

There’s nothing tastes quite like Greek olive oil. We usually bring back a 5 litre can from wherever we go Spain, Italy etc but this time we got into olive oil in a big way. I’ve been reading about and starting to follow the Mediterranean and particularly the Cretan diet in which olive oil plays a big role. Everywhere in the Peloponnese people produce their own olive oil every year and use it liberally on just about everything!

I think the the best we tasted came from a lady who had a little shop that sold bits and pieces in the ‘top’ road in Methoni. Unfortunately by the time we used it we’d left so couldn’t get any more, but another year I’d buy straight from her.

Just signs for olive oil at the side of the road and it’s all delicious. So now we’ve got cans and bottles in every storage area and just have to find room for some wine.

Our olive oil coming off the belt at Kronion

Back in Italy

Back in Italy in the hills in Umbria and it’s a bit of a shock as the evenings are positively cool and I’ve had to wear my fleece!!! This isn’t what we’re used to.

Delphi

Today we visited Delphi. Unusually for us we managed to get off early to catch the local bus and be the first at the gates when they opened at 8am and for a short period we pretty much had the whole site to ourselves, which was wonderful. Definitely recommend the early start as it gets hot very quickly and the coach tours arrive. The site is absolutely amazing and the position and views are spectacular.

Wall holding up the temple to Apollo. Each stone has been individually cut to fit exactly with those around it

Looking down on the amphitheater, Apollo’s temple and across the valley

The on-site museum has a fantastic amount of material recovered from the site.

The Sphinx- was seated on the top of a column 12.5 metres high

Miniature bronze figures – episode from the Argonaut’s expedition – very tiny and superb

The Charioteer was covered and hidden as a result of an earthquake and so didn’t get looted but was found pretty much intact during the excavations.

What an amazing place. It’s 3500 years old built on a massive hill with walls several metres thick. Here’s the Lion Gate entrance.

The excavations discovered these ‘beehive’ tombs with shafts going into the ground and a conical roof. This one is the tomb of Clymenestra surrounded by all sorts of beautiful artefacts. She murdered her husband Agamemnon then she and her lover were then killed by her two children.

Evidently the potters wheel was introduced in the 3rd millennium changing the nature of pottery and some of the pieces in the museum are wonderful.

(As an aside the owners of campsite where we’re now staying at Delphi who also produce olive oil have very old olive trees which they say are 3,000 years old!!!! )

Category: Greece 2017