Hello! We are in Italy!

Hello friends!

The days are flying by; we have been on the road for 6 weeks now and yesterday we reached our fourth country. We are in beautiful Italy! Well, it's not that beautiful yet... at least not compared to Croatia. Everything was wonderful there, the nature, the villages, and even the roads. In Croatia, 90% of the roads were in perfect condition, but here in Italy, we are zigzagging to avoid all the potholes and the garbage that sticks to the sides of the roads and sometimes blows onto the road. We hope that we can get to know this country from a different perspective - the perspective of beautiful Italy.

We were able to enjoy the last few days in Croatia. After a one-day stop at the small campsite in Komin, we left there freshly showered and with full water tanks. We drove back to the spot near the kitesurfing school where we had been two days before. This time there was no storm, but plenty of sunshine. But also a lot of wind, which is why the place is so popular with kite surfers.

We spent the whole afternoon in our camping chairs in front of the bus - I finally managed to start my journalism studies, and Sarah watched Netflix. Filou dozed off in the shade, enjoying the wind blowing through his fur.

The next day, we continued from Ploce to Dubrovnik. On the way, we had to pass through the Neum Corridor. That's what the 5-kilometer-long strip along the Dalmatian coast is called, which does not belong to Croatia but to Bosnia and Herzegovina and is its only access to the sea. Since Croatia is part of the EU, but Bosnia and Herzegovina is not, passport and customs controls are carried out here. That means that you definitely have to show your ID and declare if you have anything to declare. And sometimes they search the whole car - like they did with us. A police officer without any sense of humor asked us to park our bus aside at the border. She asked if we were carrying marijuana or other drugs. Of course, we weren't. "Okay," she said, as if she didn't believe a word we said, "when I find something, you go to jail." She entered our home on wheels and randomly searched cabinets and bags. Of course, she found nothing, and so we could continue our journey a little later.

After passing through the Neum Corridor and reentering Croatian territory, we noticed that the oncoming drivers were honking their horns. We panicked and checked if the headlights were accidentally on, if there was any smoke coming out, or if something else was lit up. We found nothing, but the car in front of us suddenly slowed down. Maybe the other drivers were referring to this car? When we saw the police with a measuring device around the next curve, it all made sense. We were warned about a speed check! For us as new drivers, this was something new. I don't know if people in Switzerland also warn each other with honking horns?

After a total of two hours of driving, we arrived in Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik is considered one of the most beautiful cities on the Mediterranean and became internationally known, especially through Game of Thrones, as certain parts of Dubrovnik were used as a backdrop for the series. The city center is surrounded by an imposing, almost two-kilometer-long city wall and is car-free within this wall. There are also many different monasteries and other historical trinkets inside and outside the city walls that are worth a visit.

We parked 3 kilometers outside the city center in the parking lot of the local hospital. Of course, we found the place through our camping app (park4night) (seriously, without this app, we would be screwed). For 13 euros, we could park and stay here for 24 hours legally. The parking lot was guarded by a very nice security officer 24/7, so we could leave the bus unattended for several hours and explore the city.

We walked the three kilometers to the city center on foot. Although it was already early September, the city was flooded with tourists from all over the world. We had heard that on some days, there is a never-ending queue to enter the interior of the city walls. Luckily, that wasn't the case today.

We had arranged to meet Jamie and Wolfgang, whom we had met on Cres the week before, and walked together with them through the streets and admired the variety of architectural styles. We noticed that there were cats everywhere. They were lying in the shade at the entrance to the cathedral, on the stairs in front of the entrances to houses, among the pigeons on the street, under the tables in restaurants. In short, they were ubiquitous. Most of them seemed to be homeless but not shy. They let tourists pet them and of course feed them. However, most of them didn't think much of Filou, except for a small white cat. When we were sitting on the terrace of a restaurant, enjoying a drink - Filou was lying under the table - she approached curiously. She seemed like she wanted to cuddle up to Filou, but he had had his experiences with cats and was accordingly skeptical. Another one who would try to scratch his eyes out for no reason? In the end, we sent the cat away because in our eyes, cats are unpredictable, and Filou wouldn't stand a chance on a leash under the table in the event of a cat attack.

Later I found out that the city tolerates the cats because they keep insects away. And obviously, they are also a tourist attraction.

While Sarah and the boys took a walk on the city walls, I sat down at a café with Filou and ordered a beer. The 30 euros that had to be paid for the ticket to get up on the wall were not worth it to me. However, even the beer was not cheap, as I was shocked to find out when paying: 8 euros! Well, where there are tourists, there are high prices.

In the evening, we wanted to take the cable car up to Srd. Srd is the 400-meter-high mountain of Dubrovnik, and the valley station is right behind the city walls. Up there, you are supposed to have a great view and be able to watch the sunset over the rooftops of the historical city. We were looking forward to this spectacle, but then came the big disappointment when we were told that dogs were not allowed in the cable car. Not even with a muzzle, which we had brought along. But where one door closes, another one opens - in this case, the car door of a taxi whose driver even tolerated our Filou on the front passenger seat and drove us up to Srd on the curvy roads for a cheaper price than the cable car.

When we arrived at the top, the sunset was already over. But that didn't matter, we took out the beers we had bought at the supermarket earlier and enjoyed the panoramic view of the illuminated Dubrovnik by night. We wanted to walk back down the hill. However, it was already very dark, and the path was much more difficult and longer than we thought, with lots of loose rocks scattered around. Sarah got a blister on her heel, and I was close to getting one. After an hour, we finally reached the bottom of the hill and said goodbye to Jamie and Wolfgang. This time for a longer time because they would be driving back to Bavaria the next day, and we would be taking the ferry to Italy. Maybe they will come visit us along the way, or we will make a stop in Bavaria. Either way, we are sure we will see them again.

We walked the three kilometers from the city to the hospital, even with blisters on our feet, and when we reached our bed, we were as exhausted and tired as we had not been in a long time. Filou started snoring after just two minutes, and shortly after, we fell asleep as well.

For the next day, we planned to take the ferry to Italy. However, it was a night ferry, so we had to be at the port at 8:00 p.m. We spent the day separately - Sarah went back to Dubrovnik and then went for a swim in the sea, while I actually dug out my study materials and spent several hours working on my journalism studies. Once you get started and get into it, it runs quite smoothly. Anyway, I am now really motivated and enjoying learning something new again.

The ferry crossing was a real adventure. We paid 260 euros for the ferry for two people, including the camper and the dog. In my opinion, quite okay, as the crossing takes almost 10 hours, and if we had driven to southern Italy with the camper, we would have paid at least double or triple the amount for fuel alone. However, a sleeping place was not included in the price. Since the cars were below deck, it was not allowed to sleep in the camper for safety reasons. And we couldn't book a cabin either because dogs were not allowed in the cabins. So we had no choice but to take our air mattresses and sleeping bags and sleep somewhere on deck. As we soon found out, we were far from the only ones with this plan. Everywhere in the corridors and in the restaurant, even outside on the open deck, you could see makeshift sleeping places - beach towels, air mattresses, quilts - we saw a huge inflatable bed with a family of four lying in it, among other things.

We settled in one of the corridors. Our two air mattresses formed a triangle with the wall, and Filou's blanket was in the middle. Filou didn't quite understand why we had to sleep here tonight, but as he always is: he goes along with everything. As long as he is with us.

We had downloaded some Netflix series onto our phones and lay there with our headphones on, Filou nestled between us. People were constantly walking by, but Filou was so tired that he didn't take notice anymore. Shortly before midnight, a corpulent man lay down not far from us. A few minutes later, he filled the whole corridor with loud, persistent snoring - even my headphones were powerless against it. Sleep was out of the question for the time being. It wasn't until he rolled onto his side at some point that the rattling subsided somewhat, and I used the opportunity to escape into the dream world.

The next morning, we arrived in Bari on time at 8:00 a.m. and set course with our bus towards Maglie in the Lecce region, where Sarah's aunt and uncle live. And where Sarah's dad would also arrive from Switzerland tomorrow. After two hours, we arrived and were greeted with joy. A cousin and a cousin of Sarah also live there, and in the house next door, there is another brother of Sarah's father with four children, and in the neighboring village, there are also a few aunts and uncles and some cousins... yeah, I have absolutely no idea about who is related to whom, I don't even think Sarah fully understands it, but it doesn't matter. People are happy about our visit, and we are happy to be here. We plan to stay for about a week and even have a room in the house. After 6 weeks, finally a real bed again, where toes don't touch the wall.

The next day, Sarah's dad Salvatore arrived. The joy was great, especially for Filou, because he and Salvatore are best friends. When we still lived in Switzerland, Filou spent at least one day a week with him.

In the afternoon, we went to the beach. A sandy beach. And I have to change my opinion about the Croatian pebble beaches - they may be a bit uncomfortable, but at least you don't have sand everywhere in your pockets, in your hair, in your underwear, on your phone, in your shoes, in your car, in your mouth. But it was still beautiful 😊

So, that's the past up until now. And what's happening in the future? Actually, we have plans now! Several people have contacted us who would like to visit us during our journey and of course want to book their trips in advance. So here are our next destinations:

September 24-27 / Cinque Terre

October 5-12 / Avignon, Vaison-la-Romaine, Marseille

From November 5 for a few days / Barcelona

End of November / Malaga

Beginning/mid-December tentatively Portugal

That sounds like something, doesn't it? In between, we still have many unplanned days and weeks that we can shape according to our moods and desires. We feel that having these small "milestones" is really good for us because at the beginning, we were quite overwhelmed by this "being without a plan" - as nice as it sounds. Now we at least have something like a guiding thread to follow.

And yes, we still have a lot of fun on this journey and are looking forward to everything that awaits us out there. In the meantime, we "feel" that we are on the road - really, I mean. It's no longer like a vacation, but more like a journey. I think we have adapted surprisingly well to the new way of life and don't miss anything from home - except for our family and friends. But it's strange... you spend two years thinking about what it will be like, and suddenly you start, you're on the road, and whoosh, 6 weeks have passed. At some point, one or two years will pass by in a flash, and at some point, this whole journey will be over. Just like that. What remains are memories. Hopefully beautiful memories. But also the admonishing thought of transience. No matter what is happening in the world, what people are doing, how each of us is doing - time marches on. Slow but steady. The clock does not hesitate whether to advance the final second and complete a full hour or whether it should wait a little longer - unaffected by all events, it progresses, goes its way, nothing and no one can stop it. The only thing that remains are memories of the time that has passed. Time that we can never return to, even if we sometimes wish for it so much. Except maybe in our dreams.

See you next time!

Author: Stephanie Köllinger