A taste of things to come

After 76 days on the road we’ve decided to take a short break from our travels. Much as we’ve been enjoying ourselves, we have a few wrinkles we need to iron out to ensure we get the most from our experience.

Our main issue has been heat. While our van is perfectly suited to the unexcessive Irish climate (recent heat wave excepted), it does not do well in very hot weather. The lack of insulation and air conditioning make it a veritable sauna. There were times when we returned to the van after some excursion or other and simply could not get into the van – we had to open all windows and doors for some time beforehand to make it bearable. Even when we were on the move, with windows and air vents open, it remained insanely hot. There were occasions where I resorted to wetting a beach sarong and wrapping myself from head to toe just to cool down! Little by little we headed north to escape the heat until we eventually found solace in the French Alps. Our original plan was to head south into Italy from there, but we knew that we wouldn’t enjoy the trip with the heat, so we headed into Switzerland and on up to Lithuania, where we have enough language skills and local knowledge to get air conditioning installed without it costing the earth.

Wrapped in a wet cloth, trying to cool down!

Mosquito net in the camper!

Campervan food – smoked chicken and salad. Pretty good!

The second stumbling block has been our limited internet access. While I did a certain amount of research on places we would like to visit before we left home, I was hoping to continue researching those unmissable food experiences as we went along. Our guide books are incredibly helpful and do contain some references to food and drink experiences, but they are not focused on these areas. Having regular access to the internet is essential to discover the hidden gems along the way.

Internet access is also essential for blogging! Those who blog will understand the time it takes to upload photos, draft and edit an article and finally get it posted. While some of this can be done offline, you need good, fast internet access to get the job done. Our limited access (both in time and quality) has been a source of extreme frustration when I have stacks of material begging to be blogged.

Steep vineyards along the Douro river, Porto.

Chamonix, French Alps

Chamonix, French Alps

Lest it sound like I’m complaining, let me confirm that we are thoroughly enjoying our travelling life – we simply want to make sure we get the most we can from this amazing opportunity.

We have now arrived in Lithuania where we will stay with Arūnas’s family for the next few weeks. During that time you can expect numerous updates to the blog as I catch up on my experiences in Spain and France. I will also be updating the “Gallery” with lots of photos. I have already updated the “Map” page with our route so far and will update it further as we devise the route for the next leg of our trip. If you have any suggestions as to where we should go for fantastic food, please do let us know.

A TASTE OF THINGS TO COME:

Portugal:

Steep vineyards along the Douro river, Porto.

Grilled Sardines, Portugal

Grilled Squid, Portugal

Street Barbeque, Portugal

Pear Tree

Seville:

Food Market Seville

Blue Cheese & Pear Salad, Seville

Cured Tuna, Seville

Scallop on squid ink pasta, Seville

Sherry Tasting, Tio Pepe:

Tio Pepe Barrel signed by Ayrton Senna

Toulouse:

Saucisse De Toulouse

Cassoulet De Toulouse

Roquefort Cheese:

Roquefort Sheep

Mouldy bread, Roquefort

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