Our next stop was travelling north to Khao Sok: an area inland with a huge national park. We had decided to try public transport and so got a songthaew (basically an open air truck) to the bus station only to find the bus station wasn’t open and the bus might come at “some point” during the day, not at the time on the timetable. After some negotiation with the driver, we agreed that he would drive us the hour trip there. It was pretty bumpy but it did mean that we got full view of the scenery on the way up which was pretty impressive. Anyway, we arrived much earlier than anticipated but the lovely people at the Khao Sok Paradise Resort were great about it and our treehouse was ready. We were given a short talk on the animals we might see including which ones were dangerous and then taken to our room where after a few minutes we were joined by a guest.

First he sat watching us and then got pretty persistent about coming very close. With the nurses advice when we had our rabies shots ringing in our ears, we beat a hasty retreat inside as soon as he hissed at us( who knew a long tailed macaque could hiss?) He was pretty insistent that he wanted into the treehouse, pushing the door and pacing up and down as if he owned the place! Callum, of course, had to wind him up through the window but after a few more hisses he gave up which was lucky as we had to go out on our canoe trip.

We were picked up in another songthaew and headed off . We had thought we were canoeing ourselves but it turned out we were just along for the ride. After initially been disappointed, it was actually rather lovely to be paddled along through the rainforest spotting the wildlife and greeting the locals playing in the river. We fed some protected fish and had coffee on the river bank in bamboo cups made on a fire Laet made there and then. (This was the closest Callum could get me to doing the survival experience overnight excursion). We saw kingfishers, heron like birds, heard the monkeys and saw a mangrove snake asleep in the tree above us All in all, a lovely few hours.

The following day we went on a day trip to Cheow Lan Lake which had been formed when the Thai government created a dam to generate power for the south of Thailand. We did actually get to canoe this time, as well as go on the speedboat, a raft, a trek through the rainforest with the guide and in a cave with lots of stalagmites and stalactites. We saw some horn bills, a wild boar, monkeys and a tarantula spider trap door. We were on the lookout for leeches but only saw the very bloody outcome of one on the only man in long trousers! He was not impressed. A great day despite being the oldest by 20 years- we were proud to be at the front of the pack on the trek though quite a few young ones didn’t even do it! The Scottish contingent couldn’t believe the waste of money!

We did one more trek in the National Park on our own the next day which was rather lovely if somewhat sweaty. The waterfalls we saw were nice but having been to Plitvice in Croatia we were hard to impress.

Callum has been happy to have seen a snake every day for the past 5 days – albeit mostly from a safe distance however we had a sudden change of plans and so are now at Karon Beach on Phuket at the Centara Villas enjoying a bit of luxury in our own separate villa and an upgrade to an ocean view!

We left quite early and after a quick stop at Schiltach, a pretty Hansel and Gretel style village for ice cream, we stopped at a dry rollercoaster. At $3 each, we thought we’d have a go despite it being full of kids and looking a bit pathetic. We went on together thinking the weight would help us go faster. However , as soon as we started down hill, it went very fast and there was a squeaking of “Break it’s dangerous!” from the front seat. We managed a speed of 27km per hour and the 2 kids behind made 37 and were disappointed😂!

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Callum thought that since we had stayed in monastery in Spain, it was fitting to also stay in a nunnery so he booked us into one just outside Baden Baden and after dropping our luggage , we set off to find somewhere to eat. We were a bit sausaged out so fancied a Chinese. What he hadn’t spotted was that we had to walk for half an hour through a vineyard to get to it. It was quite nice at twilight but we thought it might be a bit creepy on the return. The Chinese was thankfully worth it and Google gave us alternative way back . We stopped in at a very friendly local pub that was playing a bit of Bonnie Tyler for a nice beer or 2.

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Next morning,we drove into Baden Baden. We planned to look about a bit and then go to the spa. We walked off the huge cakes we had eaten for breakfast by hiking up to the old castle through the Black Forest. As you can see from the pics, it was quite a lot of uphill. Callum definitely prefers the non-restored castles and though there was some moaning about not having to walk up every hill, it was worth it.

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We arrived at the spa with Callum insisting on the full native experience paying more for the ticket including the sauna. We sat in several different pools with varying temperatures -I managed about 1 second in the cold one and only went in so that he nothing could be said about wimps though Callum is very proud to say he fully immersed. A hot jacuzzi one was more my style . The ones outside were quite nice too and we sat hoping to become revitalised and rejuvenated. The sauna was a naked one and though I kept my wobbly bits contained in a towel, Callum went full native! There were several different types of sauna as well as icy plunge pools. Noticeably, it was mostly frequented by large, old men (who were very comfortable with the nakedness) and the occasional tourists. I was glad I had kept my towel firmly wrapped.

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We liked Baden Baden itself very much and it was probably the nicest place we visited in Germany. The next place was Heidelberg which was quite industrialised on the outskirts . The old centre was ok but quite small. Because of parking, we had again booked on the edge of town so needed to get into the middle. We decided to try a scooter as Google said that was quickest and they were outside the hotel. It was a bit of fun and they do go quickly- 20km/hr next a dual carriageway seemed a bit quick.

As we saw all of Heidelberg’s delights quickly, we had traditional hamburgers actually made of ham. They were nice but a bit strange tasting even when accompanied by another beer. I was bit tipsy and wanted to get a taxi back but no it was Lime scooters home again. Not the most sensible choice (kids don’t do it please) but a laugh especially when Callum’s Lime ran out of juice and I scooted past him!

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Our last few nights in Germany were on the Rhine. We had booked into what we thought from the website looked like a really nice hotel only to find we were put in the “garage” not the lovely old building. We did ask to change rooms (which they agreed to with us having a much better room)but the service was bad in the hotel as a whole and the area seemed to be well past its best. We wouldn’t recommend it. We did find a nice gasthaus with amazing schnitzel and steak for dinner however and went both nights.

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We’re off to see Kate (and Ali) in Maastricht for our final few days, then the ferry from the Hook of Holland to Harwich and home. That will be the end of our first lot of Rossie’s roaming the world. However, we’ve learnt a few things….

1. The coffee machine may have been laughed at by some but is an essential travel tool; it was used a lot!

2. Three navigation tools are needed at all times; a car sat nav plus 2 phones with Apple and Google maps . At times, all 3 disagreed , once by 100km!

3. Our language skills are shocking but it’s amazing how much you can do with smiling and pointing. Google translate was very useful but there isn’t always service so we need one to use offline.

4. We like the look of old hotels but prefer the convenience of modern ones and don’t ever use a Croatian ferry cabin. The bed bugs still make us shudder!

5. We don’t care what people think -ebikes are great. We like to mix activities up. Too much of one thing isn’t good. We like being active and a bit of an adrenaline rush now and again – even if it’s just on a scooter!

6. We’re happier when we’re hot! No surprise there😂. We also eat and drink too much on holiday which isn’t good when it lasts nearly nine weeks. We do this less in hot places -another good reason for following the sun.

7. Giving up work (though harder for some) was a good move. We have laughed a lot!

8. We can get on and it is possible to see each other for nearly nine weeks, 24/7 without arguing. We do still like each other after 30+ years!

We should be feeling sad but actually are happy to be going home especially as we have just looked up our travel vouchers from our cancelled BA trip to Thailand and have seen that they need using up by May 2022!!!

After a long and quite scenic drive out of Italy , though Germany and into Austria, we arrived in Salzburg. We settled in quickly and then headed out to the Bier Kellar that we had seen advertised. The entry was a bit confusing, with much form filling and then trying to work out how to actually get a beer wasn’t easy. It reminded us of Egypt with the purchasing of things and then the checking of tickets 2m away. We got our steins with Callum insisting on the litre versions. We tried several beer halls that were all pretty busy and then eventually found a space on the end of a table. It was really full but had a great atmosphere wit( lots of chatting but what was most noticeable is that no one was looking at their phones so after a quick picture we made sure to put ours away. Callum sourced some food with his first bratwurst and sauerkraut. One drink led to another and after a few too many litres,we found our way back. It had been a great evening.

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The next morning, someone was feeling a bit jaded but we set off for the walk into town. It had been my choice to come just because of the Sound Of Music but what really surprised us was how quiet it was. The streets were really quite soundless so much that you felt a bit like whispering at times. It is all pedestrianised so we think that was part of it but it was odd. We walked round both sides of the river and wandered round some really pretty gardens where the film was done. Everywhere we have been there have been lots of weddings but here there were 3 with photos going on all at once which we imagined cost a bomb. We enjoyed a nice schnitzel sandwich for lunch and sat to rest on a bench in the main square in the sun. Luckily, a busker came along and started up which meant we stayed put for a long while. There was meant to be a jazz festival going on but that never seemed to happen and we reckoned we enjoyed the busker more anyway.

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After a bit of a rest at the hotel, we went back our for dinner. It was surprisingly hard to find somewhere to eat but we eventually found a place that I liked the look of – I have to admit to being somewhat picky. Unfortunately, we ended up paying quite a lot for some pretty ropey food and the worst beer I have ever tasted😖!

Augsburg

We had planned on going to Munich but finding a city centre place with parking on a Saturday night was frustrating and we were a bit citied out so we decided to head to Augsburg instead just a little further west where we knew there was a lot of green space. On the way, we decided on a quick change as Dachau could be on the route and we were very pleased we did. Although it’s an odd place to visit, it was extremely interesting. We fortunately arrived within 10 minutes of the English guided tour and were glad that we did this as we learnt a lot. The guide managed to hit the right tone throughout and kept bringing it back to the relevance to today and the changes going on in Germany at the moment.

Lots of it was quite upsetting to hear but we both learnt a lot. Dachau was always a work camp so the conditions were better than some other camps but we hadn’t known about the satellite camps all around it and the difference to other camps such as Auschwitz. We hadn’t realised that it was later used for refugees that had to return to Germany from other countries which didn’t seem right and the fact that some of the SS quarters haven’t been given back to the memorial site. It is mandatory for all German teenagers to visit a site which we thought was good and the guide was obviously part of this and so it was interesting when she shared some of their comments on how they had felt some things were obvious and couldn’t understand how the prisoners were initially fooled into thinking things would be fine.She also kept returning to how the locals kept claiming they did not know about what was happening there despite them seeing the prisoners marched through the town and used them in their factories.We went into the gas chamber very briefly ( it was not consistently used there). It was extremely chilling so we didn’t linger. There were some photos that were hard to look at both there and in the museum. It was a sobering few hours but we were very pleased that we had gone there and we drove away feeling very lucky.

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When we arrived in Augsburg, we went for change of pace cycle ride by hiring some ebikes (we love them now even if it is cheating ) and going through the huge park. It was a really lovely way to end a “heavy “few hours and the next morning we did the same. It was a lovely sunny Sunday morning and despite being chilly we really loved our time by the river and going through the autumn woodland.

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Callum had wanted to see a Bundesliga game whilst in Germany and so we had booked a hotel within walking distance of a game and ground. It may have been on an industrial estate but it was really nice. The game was actually pretty good with the first scorer being Reece Oxford the only English player on the pitch. Unfortunately, it ended 1:1 but it was a very friendly atmosphere with the Germans all high-fiving us when they scored.

We had a long drive from Rome and after a stop to buy provisions as we knew we were on a vineyard in the middle of nowhere, we had some trouble finding our Airbnb. At several places, we had been left a nice bottle of wine and we thought this might happen at the vineyard since they made their own chianti. However, there was no such luck and when we looked it up, their wine was €40 a bottle so we let them off.

After a slow start with a bit of exercise, we went to San Gimignano, which, though touristy, was rather nice. We did a bit of Christmas shopping there, and tried “the worlds best ice cream” (winners 2006-9) which we weren’t best impressed with. Standards have definitely slipped! Next, we went to Siena, which was alright. It didn’t rate highly on the Rossie scale of pretty places. We had an extortionate thimble of coffee in the Piazzo Del Campo and Callum had the smallest salmon roll ever! We headed back to homemade pasta and 3 chiantis. We decided we would taste test different bottles to see if Callum could spot the most expensive from the mid priced one and the tetra pack that cost €1.19 for a litre. Callum did get the blind testing order right but actually really liked the tetra pack! Such a sensitive palate!

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The next day, we booked a day on some e-bikes that meant negotiating Florences traffic and parking quite early. We picked them up from a lovely Scottish man who provided us with a route that included a vineyard stop where we would be expected. We had some difficulty with the directions getting out of the city but after that had the best day! The views were amazing- cycling through pine forests, vineyards, olive trees and with spectacular views of Florence as a whole. The bikes were fab and we overtook some very serious, well kitted out, proper cyclists effortlessly up some steep hills. We did feel slightly guilty but it didn’t stop us pressing turbo each time! We stopped at the vineyard and had wine with a meat platter in the sunshine. Just lovely. After cutting Callum off due to safety concerns, I corked the bottle and we moved on. We cycled along a river, clocking over 30km an hour at one point (honestly boys!), stopped at a copy of David and then headed back into the city.

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We ended the day with a walk around Florence and our final pizza near the Duomo. We thoroughly enjoyed this day and loved Florence though I did think next time we must get into the art galleries etc even if one of us isn’t keen. We had one more night in Italy after a long drive north. We stayed just north of Verona in a pretty small town Thiene in the best Airbnb yet. It was just like being at home but without our animals!

And that was Italy- at least for the time being! Off to Austria and Germany for beer and bratwurst to replace the wine and pizza!

We arrived in Rome mid afternoon and were met by the most enthusiastic and helpful receptionist ever. Our apartment was lovely and after a quick lunch, we headed to the Vatican which was about a half an hours walk. It was fairly quiet in the square and we were into St Peter’s in about 10 minutes. It really is the most amazing place even for us non-believers. I really liked the parts that they had sectioned off not just for people like us to look around but to properly worship. They were quite rightly fairly strict on this. Callum spotted a sign to the crypts, that we hadn’t seen before. We really enjoyed pottering round the Basilica and taking it all in. After a walk through the area around Castel S’Angelo, we wandered back to our apartment. We were in need of something basic for dinner and so had the best fish fingers and chips ever cooked whilst watching Angels and Demons as it is set all around the centre of Rome.

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The next day, we had bought the tickets for the Colosseum so after a lazy start, we wandered through some of the receptionist’s recommended places that we hadn’t been to before seeing some lovely piazzas.

After a Bounty and Snickers ice cream stop, we headed to the main event. The Colosseum wasn’t too busy due to Covid restrictions on numbers and we spent a few hours there despite having been there twice before. They have a good app now that comes with the tickets and we learnt some new information from that and by surreptitious listening in of a few tour guides which were impossible to miss. The addition of the Christian areas seemed really incongruous with its past but also really interesting. We headed into the basilica next to the forum and found what I believe us the most peaceful and beautiful church I’ve ever been in – the Basilica di SantaFrancesca Romana. If you ever get the chance to go in, it’s a must do.

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This was followed by Aperols (to give Callum some strength for more history) which were accompanied by crisps and bread crusts which were coated in something spicy – delicious. We spent so long there, the entrance to the forum was shut- when we eventually found it . They had moved it, annoyingly, so it was pizza for dinner and more Aperol before heading back for the next film in the trilogy- The Da Vinci Code.

On our last day, we got the metro to the Forum and spent the whole morning there. We saw so much more than last time though it did make us laugh to hear an American having a “discussion” with a stropy teenager at the entrance – it took us back! We were really lucky with the weather as it was still 22C so wandering round was really lovely. We then started our exploration game . It is an app called Questo and it is linked to the Angels and Demons film where we were the main character and had to solve puzzles like in the film. It took us to some places we hadn’t seen before but it did mean that our feet were killing us so the long walk to Travestere felt like a trek. More pizza and wine helped before the Metro back and the last film in the trilogy set in Florence (our next stop).

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As always we really enjoyed Rome, it is so relaxing for a city break despite the ridiculous number of steps we did. It felt remarkably easy to see everything and incredibly safe compared with Naples. Next time we come, we will add some more of the unusual stops and maybe even a museum or too if I can convince Callum! Off to Tuscany next.

The drive was not really very pretty – a barren landscape with some really bad bad drivers and roads that felt like they were more pothole than road. Slightly anxious making when you see the car alongside us chatting up women in the next car out of the window at 100km an hour.

We arrived in Paestum to find probably our nicest hotel yet. We were expected , were given a welcome drink and told we were to have the breakfast we hadn’t paid for! We wandered down to the beach to find that there was live music and so sat and chilled.

The next morning after a run along the promenade, we made very good use of the free breakfast (quite posh too) and then we hopped on the free bikes and rode to see the Greek ruins of Paestum. They were billed as the best Greek ruins in the world and they didn’t disappoint. We saw them on a picture perfect day, with only a few Americans around us. There were 3 big temples across a large site with great explanations on the information boards – the kids know I like a good sign! We also went into the museum which I really liked and Callum put up with.

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After that, we went down to the beach for probably our last beach afternoon of the trip. It looked like the resort’s too as they were packing up the hotel’s private beach. We would have stayed another day here but the weather had other ideas and so the next morning we set off for Pompeii after another huge breakfast.

As we headed towards Salerno and Naples, we should have known that things were taking a turn for the worse. We were quite surprised to see that the road included a lot of “ ladies of the night” every few km at 11.00am! Sights of a different sort! We drove along part of the Amalfi Coast and stopped in Amalfi itself which was pretty but shrouded in rain and mist.

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We had a booked an Airbnb near Pompeii which we knew was not the most touristy area but the reviews had been ok. We had not expected it to look like Beirut! As we got closer, we locked the doors and counted down the km hoping for a miraculous change in the area. On arrival , we feared leaving the car even for the 2 minutes it took us to open the door, use the facilities and leave again. We cancelled the booking, drove to Sorrento and booked somewhere else all in the space of an hour! To be fair, the host did refund most of our money which was very decent of her. The whole thing was a bit unsettling and then I did find it quite hard to relax and feel safe again despite our new place being fine.

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The next day, we had planned to go to Herculaneum however they now shut every Wednesday so the whole point of going to the area was lost anyway. Instead, we headed for Naples which was supposed to have some pretty areas. Unfortunately, just as our last visit to the area several years ago with the kids, we had thunderstorms and torrential rain. How someone could say the Naples is a good place to visit , we have no idea. Based on what we saw (the main sites), it was very dirty, covered in graffiti and totally underwhelming. There are very few pictures because I did not feel safe to have my phone in my hand! We stayed for pizza on the street where it was supposedly invented and then hot-footed it out of Dodge on the slowest train ever. We were happy to leave the area behind and head off to Rome where we would do some proper roaming.

Having taken several hours to exit the boat whilst trying not to scratch( we both commented that we felt we had been crawled on in the night 🤢), we found our way into Bari. We had read that it was the seedier side of Puglia but thought it was worth a quick stop. We found a coffee shop and then set off to look for the resting place of St Nicholas. It was quite a busy little place with lots of people getting in Callum’s way and the crypt was quite small and busy. But we did see it and a little of Bari. Probably wouldn’t recommend a trip there though. A little underwhelming.

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We drove south and arrived a few hours later at our Airbnb. It was 4 small studios with a pool. Luckily, we had it to ourselves for 3/4 days we were there and were only joined by some Americans for the last day or so- we did hear them talking about how many assault weapons they had which was slightly worrying. The pool was just gorgeous and the little studio just the right size.

We had had a call from Kate on Monday who had happened to find out that Ryanair flew Maastricht to Bari and so she decided that she would join/stalk us to write her paper in the sun. Callum drove back to Bari to pick her up and then we enjoyed a few days with her in her spot on the comfy seats writing about human trafficking whilst we lazed in the sun.

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We did manage a few visits out though. We had a lovely meal in Ceglie Messapica as well as a quick trip for ice cream and supplies to Ostuni, both small white towns. By Saturday, Kate had just about finished her paper so we went to Lecce in the afternoon. We were a bit disappointed in it as it wasn’t as nice as some of the other towns we had been to though we did have the best bruschetta , Hugos ( elderflower version of an Aperol spritz) and ice cream there.

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After checking out, we had a few hours before Kate’s flight and so went to the touristy Alberobello which is home to lots and lots of trulli. I loved that they had been designed so that they could pull out a keystone and the roof collapse should someone try to take taxes that were felt to be exorbitant by the baron. Sneaky!

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We needed to feed Kate before she left so we went to Polignano A Mare along with the rest of Italy. It had sounded like a good idea but it was impossible to park or even find somewhere to eat. None of us were impressed by the beach either.

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We dropped Kate and then drove across Italy to Paestum, our furthest stay south ready for some Roman and Greek ruins. My favourite!

We set off pretty early from our hotel with a view to stopping at Ston, a small town with impressive walls on the way. The drive was just lovely along the coast road and we managed to travel through Bosnia without any trouble other than having our passports checked. Croatia are the country that has been hottest on this. Anyway, Ston was just lovely though the walls showed us that our thighs still hadn’t recovered from the canyoning.

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We arrived in our Airbnb and after a bit of a rest went out to explore Dubrovnik old town. The listing had said it was a 35 minute walk but it was actually much longer which was hard with the aches and pains but if you’re with Callum there’s no getting on a bus! We had a lovely wander, a beer at the harbour and then a dinner with music. After a long walk back with many moans, we collapsed hoping the magic thigh fixing fairy would wave her wand.

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It was lovely and warm the next morning and we, once again, walked into the old town. It was so impressive it really ranks as yet another favourite and we would definitely recommend as a city break. I think walking the walls knowing that so recently they were under siege was a bit mind blowing. We both remembered hearing about the war when were in our early 20s but had forgotten that the town was under siege for 8 months with no water or electricity supply and was never taken . 21,000 people managed to survive the bombardment but we only saw 1 place that hadn’t been restored and so many brand new tiles. You expect to read about this from the Middle Ages but not from when you were 21. The Game of Thrones references were, of course, all over the place too and it made us think perhaps we ought to go back and finish season 2.

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We really enjoyed our meal that evening over family FaceTime and a spot of lounging in the jacuzzi that was well used throughout the stay. The following day, we worked out and spent some more time in the jacuzzi before leaving to have a more laid back day around the local area, Lapad. We found a bar which reminded us very much of a Rossie family favourite in Thailand and then had dinner before boarding the overnight ferry to Bari- the most disorganised ferry loading ever. The little Juke was squashed between massive lorries. There was no wonder we were 2 hours late leaving despite boarding 3 hours before the advertised departure time😂.

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The cabin we paid quite a lot for was pretty ropey – certainly not up to Brittany Ferry’s standards. Right next to the men’s loos and so we heard “that” all night! Getting off was a complete joke; 2 and a half hours after docking, we still couldn’t get to the car. There were Italian lorry drivers shouting at older ladies with suitcases trying to get through between vehicles and cars from the upper decks reversing round a curved ramp! Good job we weren’t in a hurry. Entertaining in its own way though. We did chat to a rather nice Danish man who was equally bemused and was doing a similar tour to us but on his own in his refurbed Volkswagen Beetle!

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We had a choice for a day out of either doing something active or a boat trip. I decided that we needed a break from pretty towns and a bit of an adrenaline rush would be best. What I didn’t realise was the just the drive to the canyon would give me that. We have been counting the warning arrows on the windy ( massive understatement ) roads and we hit the 7 warning sign all time high on this one. We made it safely however, met the guide and followed him to the office where we donned our flattering outfits: wet suits , helmets, life jacket and “nappy“ to protect the backsides of the wetsuits when we scraped on the rocks!

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We had a 5 minute drive to the canyon and set off clambering with our group down to the river. Our group had 13 people in it and we were the oldest by about 25 years! I have to say we did keep up with them though . The day involved basically floating through rapids in the water with our belly buttons in the air to try to make sure that our behinds weren’t too scraped by the rocks . The life jackets were pretty good so we were reasonably buoyant. We got lots of dunks but it was great fun. In-between, we would be clambering (or slipping) over big rocks and then jumping off them from a height into pools when we were told it was safe to do so. There were plenty in front of us so that Kate,as the family sacrificial lamb, was replaced for once.

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Callum did really well with his fear of heights and there was only one lot of noticeable jelly leg. In fact, it was him that decided we should upgrade from the basic to the extreme canyoning so that we could do the 55m repel next to the waterfall you can see in the picture. Have to say, the view of the way down was something else.

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It was about 4 and a half hours of fun but by the end we were pretty cold and ready to end the day. The next day, we definitely paid for all the fun though with the aching thighs!