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Welcome to 2012!
The New Year started in Greece, our destination in November 2011, where we enjoyed exploring the mainland and the Peloponnese. The weather was colder than we had expected but we really enjoyed the beautiful coastlines and having beaches to ourselves, generally packed with holidaymakers in the summer. During March we continued overland to Turkey and were followed by snow and icy winds. In April we headed back to the UK to visit friends and family, then commenced preparations for our summer trip to Russia and Belarus with our friends, Jon and Linda.
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While in the UK I rewrote the website and started a blog in May. Following the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations in London we set off for Germany. We spent some time in the north in Munster but as the rain continued we asked a German lady at a Stellplatz where we could find some sunshine.
'Black Forest, sunniest place in Germany'.
We were there within a couple of days and an incident which could have ended badly occurred where I took a dip in a fast flowing, extremely cold river to retrieve Mike's bucket. Our stay in the Black Forest was rewarded with fabulous weather, long walks and scenic drives throughout southern Germany. A visit to the spa in Erding provided a novel experience for us Brits before we met up with friends in Bavaria. Then we caught up with Jon and Linda in Eastern Germany at the end of July and drove across Poland to Belarus. I found a lot to say about Belarus so there's plenty to read on the August Blog.
'Black Forest, sunniest place in Germany'.
We were there within a couple of days and an incident which could have ended badly occurred where I took a dip in a fast flowing, extremely cold river to retrieve Mike's bucket. Our stay in the Black Forest was rewarded with fabulous weather, long walks and scenic drives throughout southern Germany. A visit to the spa in Erding provided a novel experience for us Brits before we met up with friends in Bavaria. Then we caught up with Jon and Linda in Eastern Germany at the end of July and drove across Poland to Belarus. I found a lot to say about Belarus so there's plenty to read on the August Blog.
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From Belarus we crossed the border into Russia. The roads were dreadful and we were instantly aware that the country looked very impoverished compared to what we had seen in Poland and Belarus. We visited Pskov, Novgorod and St Petersburg during August. At the beginning of September we continued to the Baltic States. In Estonia we experienced problems with a gas flare on the gas hob in the van. Our attempts to get to the bottom of what was causing the problem and get it fixed failed so we headed back to the UK. Duncan Wildman at Wildax Motorhomes was very helpful in getting the problem fixed and we left the UK again in October and enjoyed a very mild month on the Costa Brava. During the middle of November we left the van in storage near Figueres to start our winter break away from the motorhome. Without time contraints we took a cruise across the Atlantic to Miami from Barcelona, on the Celebrity Reflection. Her first transatlantic crossing. As it was the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, the failure of one of the engines made me pause for thought, but not for long. December found us in Florida, staying at the Welton family's luxury villa near Venice on the West Coast. This can be rented through VRBO. After Christmas we headed south of the border to Mexico and saw the arrival of 2013 in Puerto Vallarta on the Pacifc Coast where the blog continues in January 2013.
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