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Working at ICT/ICL Harrow at the same time were - Malcolm Shuttleworth and Andy Roland - we all got on well - and so it came to pass - that more of "The Plan" (driving the Mediterranean coast) could be attempted. Andy Roland has supplied someadditional recollections of this holiday (as at 30 Sept, 2004 - thanks Andy!!) - which are reproduced in full here - and I've tried to work them into this narrative...
Beetle 977 TKL was pressed into service again - this time with roof rack and cobbled up tent - and off we went.. 3 weeks it was to be..
Andy remembers: I do recall that the holiday started for me at about 6.30.p.m on the Friday night in the ICL Harrow Conference room. You were stuck in there with Terry Baxter pontificating. We were due to catch the ferry from Dover at 8.30 or 9.00 p.m. I had had enough by then and stormed in shouting 'Greece' in a loud voice.
Ostende, Brussels....
Andy remembers: Later that night something amazing happened. We arrived in Belgium much too late to get into a camp site so we stopped in a field at about 2.00 a.m and slept in the car. About 6.00 a.m. you and I were woken up by a knock on the car window. Throsstle continued to snore. We opened the car door and there was a Belgian, farmer we presume, pointing a stubby light grey revolver at us. Communication was difficult as we didn't understand a word he said - his Belgian accent of course - nothing to do with our French. He seemed angry and we were so half asleep it didn't seem real. Eventually he asked us if we had money. We said yes and then he went! Bizarre. Throsstle never woke once and to this day probably doesn't believe it really happened but it was the only time in my life I have had a gun pointed at me.
.....Liege, Aaachen, Cologne, different route (on E5) to Mainz, Frankfurt. Andy had a friend - Vibeke - who was doing some Au-pairing in Frankfurt and he'd arranged with her - that we'd pick her up - and deliver her to her next au-pairing job (in Naousa, Greece), so we found her and continued on.... Nurenburg, Munich, Saltzburg...
Grossglockner - why did I end up here every time??
The
hairpins on the way down - notice that the road surface is smooth until a
hairpin is encountered - then the road is cobbled, for better grip.
Austrian chalet
Different route to Tarvisio then into Yugoslavia at Kranj again. Ljubljana, Postojna, Opatija..
Andy again... Remember the DURB's - dried up river beds - lots of those on the way into Yugo.
Our
first view of the sea - near Rijeka - Andy: Then it bucketed down with rain
when we got to Rijeka and we were forced to take a hotel for the night.
And
here's our first chance of a swim - nobody around... excellent.
same
place..
Vibeke, Andy (foreground) and Malcolm (who became "Throsstle")
Doesn't the water look Soooooo inviting?? And hadn't we found ourselves an idyllic, peaceful spot?? well..... no!! It turned out there were hundreds of black spiny sea-urchins here, I think each of us got stuck a little bit - but poor old Throsstle got it worst.. I can remember swimming just off the beach - looking back at Throsstle walking down the beach into the water, and he started sort of hopping (but slower) from one foot to another "ooohhh"'ing and "aaaahhhh"'ing with each step - we didn't realise he was in trouble, and were laughing mightily at his antics. He even sat down at one point and tried to push himself back up the beach. He'd walked straight into a big collection of the things - had got badly stuck on the soles of his feet, was trying to relieve the pain there - and sat down - only to get more needles in his hands and bum!! Poor bugger!! And that was why nobody was swimming there! he was obviously in pain and couldn't walk because of all the needles/spines sticking in the soles of his feet - so we decided he had to get to hospital.
Don't know where it was, and don't know how we found it... but I still remember (hope this is right) - that Serbo-Croat for 'hospital" is "ambulanta". Immediately they knew what had happened - guess its a local pastime - and he said they pulled out those spines that would come - but just spread a gooey/cream on his feet and told him to go to hospital (another one down the coast) in a couple of days.
So we
ambled down the coast stopping at this "free" camp-site, and I think I've
captured "a genuine hobble" on film here. Throsstle is in the white shirt with
red trunks, and appears to be "genuinely hobbling" his way around camp, whilst
Andy is completely caught up in his sun-bathing and Vibeke is off to a quieter
part of the beach where poor cripples won't annoy her.
Early
morning "peace" - looking south along the coast.
another coastal scene.
And then we were in Split, where we had to find the "ambulanta" and get
Throsstle sorted out. This is not it - I think this is "The Promenade".
We expected lots of poking and tweezers trying to get hold of each spine - a bit like taking a splinter out - but magnified about 100 times. We were all ready to hear the screams of pain as he was wheeled off into another room. But...... he says that all they did was to check how soft the skin on the soles of his feet was (must have been the goo/cream they put on earlier) and then got a miniature shovel and just run this up and down the soles of his feet a little bit like scraping up the snow with a full sized shovel - and the black spines just eased their way out. Very impressive - AND - FREE!! Thanks to a reciprocal arrangement between the UK and Yugo Health Services.
Andy: Remember also having to converse with one of the doctors - who was French - regarding Throsstle's pricks. The ones on the feet. In Split we investigated finding a train for Vib to get to Greece but it seemed local trains would take several days so she carried on hitching a lift with us.
so we
were off on the road again when we saw this sight. A lovely peaceful/calm sea,
and cruising past 7 naval vessels (maybe all of the Yugo navy??) - which I
wanted to photograph - but we were in the "Cold War" era, and Yugo was still run
by Tito and when applying for visas etc.. we were made aware that photographing
military installations was not allowed. So we tried to look "casual" - and me
taking a "group" photo - when in fact I wanted to get the ships - spy!!
All along the coast.....
Andy: Then there was the time you drove off on the wrong side of the road. And another where you drove right across a main cross road - we were in the minor road. After a nice evening in the resto. once again. Anyway we survived. Then there was the guy in the Yugo garage whose party piece was the only English he knew - "I got itchy arse".
To
Dubrovnik - what a great place!! Saw that it got shelled and bombed in the
recent wars - but hope its survived well enough..
Peaceful view down into the harbour.
Loved
these nookie side streets - reminds me of Gibraltar, and Venice - and more
recently - Hong Kong.
Another one...
The
Main pedestrian area - The advert at bottom right is for "Folklor" - didn't go -
don't know!.
Another nookie side street - I think this was us trying to get up onto the wall
that runs around the old city
Dubrovnik harbour - not so luxurious as Monte Carlo.
Could
be Venice - but its Dubrovnik from the Wall. That was one over-riding impression
I had of Yugo.... nothing got finished. To me, the houses here - need a covering
of plaster or cement or something on their walls. In toilets and hotels you'd
find that rooms were 90% finished ok, but maybe the door lock didn't (lock) or
light fittings didn't exist - just a bare bulb.
from
the Wall looking south. One of the later photos is taken from that road -
looking back to here.
from
the Wall looking North.
looking down into the town from the Wall - you can see parts of the Wall, top
left corner.
The
Main street again. See how shiny the street is??
And
here - we're getting on the road - looking back at Dubrovnik.
I think this is around Kator - little white church/monastery all on its own on a
small island.
Thistle by the roadside.
Did we know what we were getting ourselves into?? - Obviously not!! Just before Budva, we turned left - inland towards Titograd. On our maps this was your regular road - no problems!! We couldn't continue down the coast - because Albania was in the way - and at that time - it didn't let people in (or out). So we had no alternative than to drive round Albania.
The road - basically didn't exist. As we started on it it was just like a rocky dried-up river bed. Any speed and rocks were being thrown up and were crashing on the underside of the car. Quite a few tourist type cars - turned around in the first few miles - and as we drove on it became wilder and wilder country.... men riding mules were about the only traffic you saw. Through Pec, Prizren to Skopje can only be about 150 miles - but it took us all day! This is the poor old car on arrival at Skopje camp-site.....
Well
battered!! But it didn't miss a beat!!
Next day we went into Skopje - it had been hit by a bad earthquake a couple of years earlier with loss of life and lots of damage..
Andy remembers: Another thing nobody believed - that camp site outside Skopje was the most primitive ever. Certainly no hot water in the showers the evening we arrived. Although rather a nice restaurant there I remember. Anyway next morning being a clean sort of person I went back and took another shower - boiling hot water. Nobody else believed me when I told them and they could not be persuaded to have another dip after the previous night's experience.
This is the railway station - with the clock stopped at the time the quake
struck 07:16AM.
Well we'd had enough of that road - and Yugo, and happily passed into Greece near Gevgelija towards dusk. The first thing I noticed was the weird Greek headlight usage - a car coming in the opposite direction would be on FULL Main-beam (we'd be on dipped), as he got closer and I could see less and less - because of his blinding lights - I'd flash him a few times - which would make no difference to him - still on Brights... and then when we were about 50 yards apart and I'd be thinking of braking to a halt and pulling over to the right - he'd go from Full-Main beam - to side-lights (not dipped, but parking/side lights). It was as if the sun had been turned off, and we were left with just a candle - Booof! Where'd he go..?? This happened lots - because we were driving from dusk to about 23:00 - on the road to Naousa, to drop Vibeke off.
Poor people we were going to in Naousa... the whole village was locked up and fast asleep when we arrived and somehow or other we found the house Vibeke was to visit. There we were - 4 unwashed, dirty, tired English - arriving on their doorstep at 23:00 at night - they were lovely though. They all got up - gave us some figs and other little treats, and the young lady that Vibeke was to help with her English was our "translator" with her mum and dad and relatives. we got our sleeping bags out and slept on their floor.
Next
morning we sightsaw in Naousa, which basically meant visiting this waterfall.
Left to right - Throsstle (not hobbling anymore), don't know (mum or sister),
young lady who was learning English, Vibeke, brother, Andy.
Andy: When we got to Naoussa, or rather the next day, Vib's penfriend appeared to get a crush on you - and constantly referred to you as 'The Mike'.
Discerning lady - obviously!!
Well we didn't have time for too much "visiting" - we had Greece to see - so we bye-bye'd and set off.....
Down the coast, Katerini, past Mount Olympus, Heraklion, Larissa, Farsala, Lamia, Atalanti, Achanai and into...
Athens!! I think we are parked at the US University Museum - or something like
that. But what a great backdrop - the Acropolis - we'll be up there soon.
This is a statue - Roman head in the museum.
and I
think this is the Amphitheatre at the side of the Acropolis.
And now we've come round and up to the entrance to the Parthenon.
I'm still down towards the entrance - but that's Andy in the black trousers,
giving the Parthenon, the once-over.
Others were perusing too - Parthenon at right - and a little temple, that I
really enjoyed to the left.
The boys... checking the excavations.
looking back towards the entrance.
My temple - the side away from the Parthenon
My temple... isn't it nice??.. the side facing the Parthenon
This is the rear-end of the Parthenon
Top left-hand corner of the back-end.
bottom left-hand corner looking along the South-side of the Parthenon, towards
the front.
Moved inside but still looking down the (South) left-side towards the front.
Front facade.
On our way out - a look-back.
On the road again....Megara and then across the Corinth Canal onto Peloponnese Peninsular
Corinth Canal - I think there's a big ship way up at top left (not really
visible) - but its a very tight squeeze.
Andy: Remember an idyllic beach in S.E. Greece we stopped at in afternoon. Water calm as a mill pond. So tranquil. Nobody there. Like something out of a Greek fable somehow. We played ducks and drakes. In the evening had a meal at the campsite - first course a tomato salad! You got tipsy for some unknown reason and kept us awake later complaining about your 'cold tootsies'.
Korinthos, Mykinai, Argo, Tripolis and then to..
Sparta - cactus
Kalamai, Megalopolis to Olympia...
We wandered through the ruins and ran round the small tack - lovely place. See
the column just toppled over...?
Now.. as I remember it - it was getting on towards evening at Olympia, and we had bookings on a ferry that was leaving Patrai around 22:00 - only a 50 mile drive through Pyrgo, Lechaina, Lapa to Patras/Patrai. Cannot now recall why we missed the ferry (bad roads??) - but miss it we did - bugger!!
But - there was a slim chance..... it would make a leisurely progress north between the islands of Levkas and Kephallinia to Igoumenitsa - about 150 miles by road, and it was due in there at 06:00AM tomorrow morning - we had about 8 hours to cover 150 miles... must be easy!!
So off we sped - chasing our ferry to Italy. Onto the Greek mainland at Antirion, then on rubbish roads...Mesolongion, Agrinion, Amphilochia, Menidi, Arta, Philippias, Preveza, and into Igoumenitsa - Phew!! We got there around 04:00AM and just threw our sleeping bags on the ground under a tree - where we could see the sea and the entrance to the harbour, and somehow, someone awoke and there - it was... what a beautiful sight - our ferry steaming into the harbour.
Andy: I remember that drive on the last night in Greece. The moon was full and lit up all the olive groves - almost like daylight. Very atmospheric.
We got on board and the ferry (very nice it was too) went to Corfu for a quick stop - then off around Corfu island, across the Ionian Sea, to Brindisi in Italy - the whole day - just cruising the Adriatic - fabulous!!
Brindisi, up the coast to Bari, across land through Lavello, Benevento, and at Caserta turned north towards... Rome.
Andy: What about when we were in Naples and you started driving the Beetle down ever narrowing side streets. It was like something out of 'The Italian Job'. Never thought we would find our way out.
By this time we were running out of time, and had to hurry (shame)....
Victor Emmanuel again.
St Peter's at night.
Pisa again (don't know what the nasty marks are)..
Somewhere in southern France..
Andy: In France I remember stopping in Montelimar and seeing all those nougat shops.
And then it was time for Viva Zappata photos - or Zappers... we'd certainly not shaved so were quite proud of our hairy lips - for posterity...
Throsstle's Zapper
Andy's Zapper
My Zapper.
A quick dive into Paris...
Sacre Coeur
Andy: In Paris I was very impressed with the Eiffel Tower and also Mountparnasse on the Sunday morning. Lastly we did it all on ?60 each and the car owner ?75 - all we were allowed to take out of the country at that time.