BLOG PART 2 Wednesday 26th May OK, welcome back to our travel Blog. If you want you can have a look at the kids blog as well. Everything is going very well and we have now been away for nearly two months and owned our motorhome for over a month. If you are thinking about this type of holiday as a future option - "just do it"; it is wonderful. But never think it is a walk in the park - there is a lot of organising and spending 24 hours a day together could be trying; luckily my jokes and stories are making it easier. The truth is that Camilla is incredible patient and understanding. We also spent a lot of time and money making sure we had everything we needed and we should probably write a short "Motorhomes for dummies" book when we return home. (I'm not suggesting there is more than one dummy on this trip). From now on our motorhome shall be called "Tito - the kettle van". Just a combined name with help from the kids. (Lets hope the financial devastation caused by Tito in the former Yugoslavia will not be repeated here). We all have bicycles now; thanks to those who helped us find them. We have bought a keyboard for the kids so they can practice their music and the printer was a good decision. The GPS navigation has stopped twice and I can vouch that a full satellite failure would bring the world to its knees. It was terrible - what with having to search the motorhome for paper maps and then find out where we were and where we should go. It took us on the worst adventure through narrow winding roads in Triest, Italy where you wouldn't take a shopping trolley or a mountain goat. Unfortunately we needed a combination of both with these annoying Italian drivers beeping and yelling at us the whole way up this hill climb event; when I eventually let them pass they told me in perfect English that the bridge underpass at the apex was too low for our van!!! Whoops - the drive back the 19% slope was scarier then the Tower of Terror at the Gold Coast. Don't leave home without a GPS and maps (thanks Keith)! Stuttgart was a great place to stay while Tito was insured, registered, etc. Visited the zoo, ate great food (an Italian restaurant to equal the real things a little way south), especially the local noodles and ravioli (spatzle and maultaschen). We went to the Mercedes Benz car museum and saw the last 280CE ever built and it was in slightly better condition then mine! Finally away - with a few exciting moments driving but those others around us are very patient. As the weather stayed fine, we drove up into the mountains to the Black Forest and stayed in a lovely little town called Schiltach (pronounced: shill-tarhhc) on a lovely Camping Platz on the Kinzig River. Visited the local museums as well as the annual fair (to listen to a busker playing the didgeridoo - cant get away from those Ozzies). Took the kids to a model train museum with incredible local landscapes of the Black Forest - saved us having to visit most of the other highlights in the area. Next we drove to Kehl on the Rhine River in south-west Germany bordering with France. Another perfect caravan park with a spot right next to the playground and a good restaurant to sit, drink beer and watch the kids playing. We stayed with German friends, Juegen and Dagmar, who we first met in Istanbul a decade ago. We both now have children and are married and it was very special to see them again. All the children played well, albeit they spoke different languages. Macayle threw away her trainer wheels at a stunning vanpark on the Necker River. We caught the local ferry from there into Heidelberg - what a wonderful place with a great atmosphere from its university. Also a very good English book shop - this makes Camilla extremely happy. We took the kids to Europa Park, a theme park split up into various countries. Always a little sceptical about these parks but we had a great day and it was well done. The children haven't stopped talking about it since. Everyone needs a hobby and to highlight this let me introduce some controllers in Germany who we got to know through the Federation. Alex and his wife Helena sing in a choir called Darmstadter Kantorei and performed the three parts of Handel's Israel in Egypt in a beautiful church. Our children went to the local zoo with the family of one of the basses so we could relax and enjoy the performance. Next is Wilfried who plays bass piano accordion in a 40 person strong accordion orchestra called Untergrombach - the Akkordeonorchestra. We saw them practicing their winning pieces which they were to perform the following weekend at the triennial world music festival in Innsbruck. We went to Innsbruck and I went to the festival - Untergrombach won the competition and are again world champion accordion orchestra. Driving through the Italian Dolomites (alps) was fabulous and we have decided our retirement will include some time here each year. We are now in Croatia, on the Istrian Peninsular (the new Tuscany) and it is fabulous. Lots of Italian cuisine, the clearest stretches of the Mediterranean that you can imagine and a very kind and relaxed people. You should try Karlovacko pivo (beer) - it is spectacular and we have taken in a couple of outstanding seafood restaurants. It was Dylan's fifth birthday yesterday. We spent the previous day at the beach (pebbles instead of sand) with perfect weather at 33 degrees but had thunderstorms all day for his birthday. Still had loads of fun and games and presents. Communication has been a little tricky with SIM cards either not working or being too expensive. Internet access has also been a bit poor but this is only a problem when trying to upload blogs (reason why this one is so long) or paying bills (good news really). Do vidjenja and much love, David and Camilla