TechnomadicsVagabonding Europe

Tag Archives: Culture

Wandering Venice with Simpatici

Posted on by Michael

There’s something about being in a place with friends who are locals to the area — it anchors the place, makes it feel more real and accessible than just being a visitor, on the outside looking in through the distorting filter that is tourism. So, we’d leapt at the opportunity to visit Venice with our new friends Andrea and Silvia, … Continue reading

Touring Padova with with Some Very Nice Locals

Posted on by Katherine

We had a whole weekend with our new friends all to ourselves in store and we couldn’t wait! We hadn’t spent a good amount of time with people our own age – or close enough – since we traveled with friends in Italy very early on in our trip. This is one of the downsides of motor-homing – whilst most … Continue reading

The Aussies from Poggibonsi

Posted on by Michael

We struck gold at our next place to stay in Poggibonsi, a town that sounds like it should consist entirely of jumping castles. It was a free, green area sosta with 1€/12 hours electricity and 3G coverage. Very pleased with ourselves, we settled in, door open to let in the beautiful spring day (this is as ‘outside’ as we tend … Continue reading

Arezzo

Posted on by Michael

We left our friends Bruno and Elena in Preggio and headed onwards across the green hills. On the way, we were excited to spot clusters of poppies growing on the side of the road. As we passed alongside one hill-top town, we were waved down a different road by a police officer — the later appearance of some guys in … Continue reading

Chieti and the Good Friday procession

Posted on by Michael

Having arrived in the town of Chieti, we found the free parking reserved for campers; the signs at the car park read something like “Agli accampanare Nomadi”, presumably something about being reserved for nomads/Travellers, which would’ve made us a little nervous if it weren’t for the swanky-looking motorhomes parked around. We were there to see the Good Friday procession, apparently … Continue reading

To Rome!

Posted on by Michael

Strike three — or possibly two, or four, I’ve lost count: No Rome for us, the following day after the last entry. We were all ready to go, and then I couldn’t find Paolo to pay for our stay here! I called them up on the mobile, and over the raucous beeping of car horns, they explained they were in … Continue reading

First day in Salerno

Posted on by Michael

Italy! [Audio clip: view full post to listen] (Busker in Salerno) We awoke in the late morning, after a wonderful sleep, to the cosy sound of rain on the roof, washing all the salt from the long voyage off Nettle’s flanks. We had nice and hot, refreshing showers, and by the time we were all dressed and ready to head … Continue reading

The great escape

Posted on by Michael

We awoke on our final day in Tunisia (and also our fourth anniversary!) with a feeling of great anticipation. Italy, baby! We finished up our final tasks, which including emptying the black water cassette into the nasty pit supplied, which was a particularly unpleasant experience when a splashback from the poorly-designed emptying facility hit me in the face!!! Freaking hell! … Continue reading

Tunis

Posted on by Michael

Success! A whole night and morning with not a whiskey-seeker to be seen! We got up, threw all our warm gear on and headed out into the freezing day in Tunis. We had a big list of things to find — throw rugs to keep us warm while we’re sitting around in Nettle, a laptop stand, keyboard and mouse for … Continue reading

Sbeitla

Posted on by Michael

We left Gafsa today and drove a couple of easy hours north to the town of Sbeitla, a town beside a far more ancient Roman town, Sufetula. Sufetula is now ruins, but quite well preserved ones. Along the way, and for our drive afterwards, we were amazed by our treatment as we drove through little towns — everywhere, people waved … Continue reading

Douz Market

Posted on by Michael

Every Thursday, everyone who lives anywhere near Douz swarms in from the surrounding villages to join the weekly market. There’s a square underneath the palm trees where animals are bought and sold; lining the sandy streets there are stalls selling second-hand socks, shoes, belts, clothing of every kind, radios, cellphones, kitchen accessories and whitegoods, furniture, generators, satellite dishes, hoses, tools, … Continue reading