Yes, it’s on the road again…the weather’s finally cleared, and what a fantastic journey it is down from Krk to Starigrad-Paklenica, on the edge of the National Park.

It’s a rugged coastline, barren and rocky… but our camp site for the night is idyllic…

…with a pleasant little harbour to wander round…

Croatian, I have discovered, is not an easy language to get my head around. Despite my smatterings of Greek, Latin, Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese, there are still few clues. For instance, whilst trying to buy eggs in the supermarket, how to tell if they are free-range and preferably organic? No translations on the box. In the end I select the box with the smiliest chicken on the box. Well, what else can a poor gal do?

We pack up and leave Fusina, heading east and then south through Slovenia, where the autumn colours through the mountains are wonderful. We arrive on the island of Krk, Croatia by late afternoon. It’s a lovely place, or would be if the weather was half decent. This is the view from our camper van…

Krk is an old walled city (the Romans were here, of course!)…

…with a lovely harbour…

There’s hardly anyone around though…and uh-oh, it’s getting wetter…

Oh, how gushing am I allowed to be? It’s not great weather, but the City of Venice is everything it’s cracked up to be. Great campsite at Fusina, then it’s a vaporetto over to Zattere to wander through these ancient streets (snorkel might be handy…)

Yes, there’s a lot of tourism here, but also plenty of culture, of course. The Palazzo Ducale (Doge’s Palace) is well worth a visit with its astonishing Tinteretto paintings and ornate architecture…contrasting sharply with the prisons and the famous Bridge of Sighs.

The historic cathedral (Basilica!) is worth a visit…

Oh, and this guy’s definitely worth a word with…

We’re still in time to catch the 2011 Biennale… so plenty of contemporary art too…in fact, far more than you can see in one day – we merely get a flavour. Even the coffee shop makes a statement…

Then there’s Peggy Guggenheim’s impressive collection… two days is just not enough! And Venice has its own special statements to make…

Next, it’s on to Pisa and a journey of discovery shared with daughter and son-in-law… We get to meet the fine Garibaldi…

…followed by the inevitable…

We had to go to the top of it, didn’t we? Despite all the tat, the tower is…interesting, let’s say… certainly had that drunken experience wobbling our way up the marble steps…and the views from the top were pretty good….

…and the bells were pretty impressive…

We find a great campsite not far from Arezzo, though Wendy thinks we’re mad and tells us off for navigating “off road”. But actually, it is a road, and we hole up, as they say, for a couple of days, enjoying the sights of this old and not too commercial town…

There’s as much history here as there is many of the famous Italian Cities, but it just ain’t as well known…

Spot the graffiti….

From Schleswig we hurtle down the motorway to the Austrian border, beneath clear(ish)skies and fine weather…

…but who said it is warmer in the south?… It’s 4° and yes, there’s snow on the ground…

We’re relieved to find that Lake Garda is substantially warmer, though still on the chill side and we spend a great night here, even indulge in a proper Italian “negroni”.

We arrive in Schleswig, the very north of Germany, to stay with our very good friend Karin. We’ve never been here before, and what a delight it is, from the old fisherman’s village, the beautiful waters of the Schlei, the rich Viking history and the fantastic museum and art galleries…

Then it’s goodnight to Schleswig. Time to head south…

Five countries in as many days (England, France, Belgium, Holland and Germany)! On 13th October we find a good campsite near Sommeren, Holland, a feast of rurality with the smells to match (it’s a working farm). Then up at dawn (Ok, then, just after…) and we head through Juggernaut Heaven up towards Osnabruck, Germany – Ladbergen, to be precise. Wendy becomes annoyed with us because we keep missing the turns she is advocating – largely due to a large dollop of cowardice on our part when we see the narrowness of the streets she is suggesting.

“Doesn’t she realise we’re in a campervan,” I screech, “and not a Smart Car?”

However, eventually she browbeats us into submission and we arrive at the Wohnmobil Stellplatz. Nothing wrong with this aire for a free night’s stay, and peaceful apart from the tuneful, or otherwise, notes of flute and oboe emanating from the nearby music school. Everything within a stone’s throw, too…

…shops, pubs, police station, but not a toilet in sight. Wendy tells us the nearest one is 22 km  away. Well, I reckon if I start walking, I might just get there in time for a middle-of-the-night-pee. Thank goodness for our van and its compact facilities…

Next day, we travel to a town named Zeven. Not a bad little town, though Wendy omits to mention the road closure on the main route in. There’s a museum, good cycle routes, plenty of lovely woodland walking and public art…

We wake on the morning of the 16th to watch a vee of wild geese flying overhead, their direction southward, and a thick crust of frost on the grass. Time for us to head south too, we think, but we have one more call to make beforehand, and that’s further north…

Crossing the Channel from Dover to Dunkirk once again, water smooth as a blue ribbon, brings memories of the excitement of our journey eighteen months ago, when our travels lay before us. This time it’s for the final stint – only three months left! Nevertheless we’ve got plenty of adventures up our sleeves and what’s more, we have our new companion with us – our very own Sat Nav, whom we have christened Wendy, as in When d’y think we’ll get there, although Terry favours “If we”…as our gear box has still not had its service and we’ve still got half of Europe to cross and back again. Still, we’re cool, as they say, and Van is behaving himself…sorry, we’ve anthropomorphised practically everything….We drive a few kilometres the other side of the Channel and stop the night in the most delightful city of Veurne. There is a free “aire” for camper vans quite near to the canal…

And we just have time to explore a little before we lose the light. New public art is a pleasant contrast to the wonderful architecture of these old Belgian buildings…

This little corner of Belgium escaped the Germans in the first World War, mostly because of its geography. It’s a friendly place, and despite rain in the night when drops fall onto the canal with a kind of beaten aluminium effect, the sun comes out the next day and we can’t resist another little wander round these charming streets. A quick peak into the cathedral reveals a fantastic stained glass window, followed by a tour round the Louis Baretta exhibition. For a couple of euros each not only do we have our own personal tour guide to explain the art and history of this fascinating but rather tragic artist, but we also meet an archivist who is highly involved in the restoration of the stained glass in York Minster! Such a small world…

Oh well, time to travel on. Thank goodness my new best friend Wendy is tackling the motorways and the juggernauts….