Getting Closer.

The six vans and nine people heading for Siberia are getting closer to meeting for the first time (I think). We are all meant to meet near Rijeka in Croatia on 2004-04-02. Womble and OJ are closest, being camped a few kilometers away, Mog is about 95km south at Pula (Croatia), K-Nine is in Milan (Italy), and the exact whereabouts of the other two vans is not know (at least to me).

We (Mog) came down through Switzerland visiting the wonderful city of Bern. Although Bern does not have a camp site near the old town there is a suitable car park that can be used for "wild" camping just opposite the bear pit and near the Rosengarten. There is a charge of about $1.50 per hour during day time, but it is free at night, and a very short walk to the UNESCO listed old town. Best to get there about 17:00. (46.94987°N 7.45925°E)

After Bern we stayed in Verona for a night. We were unfortunately unable to find a good "wild" camping spot so ended up in a "camp site" (actually a car park with a campervan sign about 40 minutes brisk walk from the old town that charged 20 Euros a night, but it was secure and with facilities.) (45.42179°N 10.97522°E). The lowlight of the town, for me, was "Juliet's Balcony" because the area around it was covered in tens of thousands of pieces of chewing gum stuck on the the walls to facilitate writing "Fred loves Jane" in a variety of languages! A deeply unmoving and unhygienic experience, of which the city should be ashamed.

After Verona we stayed two nights in Punta Sabbioni, not because of any intrinsic interest in the town, but because there is ferry from there every half hour to Venice. There seemed to be a number of wild camping spots on the sea front near the ferry terminal but we opted for one of the fifty(!) or so camp sites to provide some security for Mog whilst away in Venice for the day (Ten Euros per van per night). Venice was, as always, splendid, and lived up to its reputation, with a gin and tonic in St. Marks square excellent value at $15.00.

After Italy we spent 45 minutes in Slovenia before entering Croatia. Neither border involved anything more onerous than handing our passports to a bored official for a cursory inspection. In Croatia we headed south to Pula where we are currently "wild" camped on the waterfront (in a car park) a few hundred metres from the amphitheatre (44.87620°N 13.84793°E).