Blog with a three legged dog

So what has happened in a few days!? Lots!
We have to say Monte Blanco is beautiful but from our experience it rains alot & there are lots of mosquitoes!! From what the campsite owner told us they are the worst ever in his experience & they are tiger mosquitoes! Lol only us! That's the bad points out of the way ... the scenery is some of the most amazing we have ever viewed & worth all the bites!! I have just asked Bryan if he agrees & his answer was 'I'd definitely go back,' high praise indeed from Mr Hunter!
When we woke on Sunday it was raining so we decided to pack up the inside of the safari room & by the time we had that done the sun was out & we were able to put it away dry. With the van pretty much packed we went out exploring the area. We had already lifted a leaflet about an animal park close by & so off we headed. The day before we had discussed cycling to it, boy am I glad we didn't do that!! It was only a couple of miles away but it was all UP HILL. I am not referring to the little hills we have at home, They were big steep, sore bottom hills, need I say any more!?
We visited Parc Animalier d'Introd (we did, Polly didn't), they had a place to keep dogs if necessary but Polly was more than happy in the van for a couple of hours. Ella loves animals & so she was in her element! We got to see hedgehogs, mountain goats, foxes, deer, a badger, owls etc up close. Super wee family outing.
We then drove on to Aoste (biggest town in the area), we had a map of the local area & found a car park on the outskirts to park very easily. What a beautiful town with some fabulous things to see, Bryan particularly enjoyed the Roman theatre remains, I enjoyed the shops Ella enjoyed the restaurant & Polly enjoyed all the attention!!
Dogs are welcome anywhere ... the restaurant we decided to go to was like walking into an old pirate ship! Ella loved it! The waitress looked at me in surprise when I asked if it was ok to bring the dog! Of course she was welcome! & of course Polly enjoyed the doorbell to let the waitresses know the food was ready, she barked everytime it sounded much to the amusement of all the other customers!
So our time at Monte Blanco came to an end & on Monday we moved on to Abisola (near Genoa), I'll tell you more about that in 5, after I eat my tiramasu!!!

Ps Bryan has just asked me to add this important point! When queuing up to go into Mont Blanc Tunnel pack a spare clutch as you need at least 30 hill starts if the queue is long especially if your van is fully loaded (like ours, I even have a mini ironing board included with our luggage )

& the only one who doesn't have bites is the dog!! Typical!!

Well lots of things to tell you about!
The first thing is we moved on to Lake Garda yesterday. We arrived to blazing sunshine hip hip hooray
I helped Bryan to get the main bit of the safari room up & then let him get on with entertaining all the Dutch parked around us. He said they literally pulled up chairs to watch what would come out of the van next! Safari room ... silverscreens ... Cool my camper system ... tables, chairs etc etc. Well sure if they're talking about us they are leaving someone else alone!
Ella got the suncream & swimsuit on her & we hit the pool.
We had a super day, we enjoyed chicken kebabs cooked on the cadac & a bottle of red wine for tea.
It all changed this morning at 4am! The heavens opened, the thunder & lightening started & it hasn't finished yet!!
We had a short lull during the am & Bryan took the opportunity to put the storm straps on & boy did we need them this afternoon ...
The 'forecast' is for cloud tomorrow & we're going to try to go to Gardaland but we'll see what tonight brings!
The safari room is letting in water at the middle of our awning so we have our own waterfeature to enjoy during the storm (you know me, always positive!) but in true Bryan style he has a tube of silicone & is going to seal it when this weather system moves on.
Will get a chance over the next day or two to tell you about our stopover in Genoa & Bryan's amazing driving skills on a mountain!
Laters! From a damp Lake Garda

Update time!
I promised some info on our time at Genova so here goes.
We drove to Albisola (about 3 hours from Monte Blanco) & spent about an hour looking for our campsite, the tourist office closed at 12.30 & we arrived at 12.45, typical!
The campsite was eventually located about 5km outside of the town in the mountains. We would have found it straight away if we'd turned left instead of right when we got off the autostrade ... such is life!
It didn't take long for the rain to start & initially we felt like we were in the back end of nowhere in the rain!
After a bit of exploring the situation improved, we found out we were in a national park & the campsite run a free shuttle service into town. It also had a super wee pool to use & as we discovered an amazing restaurant that was packed with locals every night.
Just as I was considering what to make for tea on the first night a vegetable van pulled in & you could buy as much fresh fruit & vegetables as you wanted! Tea sorted
We booked the shuttle to bring us to the train the following am as we had decided we'd go to visit Genova.
We wanted to go to the aquarium, we knew Ella would enjoy it.
Getting a ticket at the train station was an interesting experience! You could buy your ticket & your breakfast in the coffee shop all at the one time. You then had to swipe your ticket in a little green box before going onto the platform. All sounds simple but we worked this all out from sign language as no one spoke English at the station!
The aquarium was signposted from the train station & it was about 15/20 minutes walk.
An absolutely massive aquarium with manatees, dolphins, sharks etc it took us nearly 3 hours to see it all.
We also got to go on a pirate ship that moors in the marina, I would say that was the highlight of Ella's day.
The following day the sun was shining in the morning & we enjoyed the pool & tea at the restaurant that night.
Ella got to watch her pizza being made & cooked in the pizza oven.
Our last full day before moving on we decided to visit some local caves ...
First of all we couldn't get the van out as a French circus of teenage acrobats were staying at the site FOC if they put on a show for the campers. They were supposed to perform the previous evening but the rain but a stop to that plan. They warmed up for about 2hours & then they performed for about 15 minutes! I'm sure you're getting the picture!
When we eventually got on the road it was after 12, we put the name of the town were the caves were based into the satnav & off we went.
Of course men know best & when Bryan noticed a sign that said grotte he turned off the road, the satnav said another 5km ... well you can just imagine what happened next ... international disaster!
We started going up & up & up the mountain & there were no more signs for grotte!
Eventually the decision was made to turn back, we got turned in a little town car park.
I have just remembered another thing that happened!
When we turned off the autostrade we had a small toll to pay, I went to get my purse from the usual place & it wasn't there, panic then commenced! Of course my dramatic mind had the purse stolen by the French teenage acrobats! I found a few Euros paid the toll & listened to Bryan telling me I'd probably left the purse at my backside (he used a less tasteful word) ... 30 seconds later it was found, I was sitting on it ...
We eventually found Toirano & found the signs for the caves. We went in the entrance & started to drive up the hill or maybe I should say mountain path ... the little car park at the top was full & now the road up to it was full with our MH & there was a queue starting behind us, it didn't take long for them to find their horns ... I was instructed to go & ask at the reception if there was MH parking!?! The lady in the shop did not speak English but a very kind Italian lady could see the panic in my eyes & interpreted the situation. The shop lady shrugged her shoulders & said park in the town ... when I arrived back at the scene of the crime Bryan was started to get turned & some traffic was getting by but the smell of burning clutch was unreal. Thankfully it wasn't our clutch. Ella & me got into the very long queue & Bryan went & parked in the town (about 2km away). That's are first experience of having a problem with signage in relation to parking, everywhere else they have specific MH parking but hey sure we survived!
The caves were amazing but of course in all the panic we forgot to lift the camera with us we will just have to post the images to memory ... the formations were some of the most amazing I have ever seen. The walls of the caves have historical graffiti from 1689 ... the climb up to the entrance is not for the faint hearted & it took over 2 hours to walk the whole path in the caves with lots of steep steps but it was all worth it. We both agreed that all the drama was worth it when we viewed the caves.
That's you up to date on all our dramas!!
It is still wet at Garda but that's a story for another evening!!

So we are sitting in a cafe beside lake Garda with the sun shining!!
This is now our 3rd day of sunshine in a row, that's a record for this holiday!
And we're having a quiet, peaceful & relatively uneventful time.
My brother has arrived to stay with us for 10 days so we're enjoying going to the pool during the day & Gardaland theme park in the evenings.

Polly wants to add her piece ...
Everyone wants to stroke me, when I go out for my walk in the morning everyone speaks to me in languages I don't understand.
There are lots of other dogs who come to say hello to me when they walk past our MH.
At the moment I'm sitting under the table in a cafe, I'd never get to do that at home!
The best bit is that I'm getting to eat lots of pizza crusts! My favourite!
When you only have 3 legs you get all the treats going!
It has been quite hot for the last few days but sure I chillax in the shade of the van or sit with the fan on me. This is the life!
Mummy got me a special collar & so I have no mosquito bites mummy has one at the minute & poor daddy got 3 new bites last night
Polly signing off from sunny Lake Garda WOOF WOOF

Lol!
We're having a sneaky night in a hotel in Livigno (very north Italy), my brother is with us and he has lots of friends in this little tax free town as he skis here a few times each winter.
It's cool here (about 15/16 oC) but it's a super wee place. Diesel is only 1€ per litre so we'll fill the tank here before moving on.
Bryan & my bro going down hill mountain biking tomorrow & Ella & me having a girly shopping day & Ella wants to go pony trekking.
Bryan will have a sore behind tomorrow evening.
I'll give you a rundown on the antics at Lake Garda tomorrow

Just have a quick 5 minutes to log on to internet as my brother is printing his boarding pass to go home tomorrow.
We are in Venice at a campsite with over 2,000 spaces - it is like a miniature city and I'm not being dramatic!
Bryan survived downhill mountain biking, the inside of his legs are bruised.
The day after the mountain biking he also enjoyed having the arms pulled out of him as we crossed over the passo de stelvio ... we had never heard of it! but we sure know about it now! It's is a bucket list thing to do (for cyclists, as we met so many of them) ... we came across it by accident & drove past a sign that possiby indicated that motorhomes shouldn't use it!? we are not 100% sure on this one but once we had committed to cross it there was no turning back literally!!! We did meet one other MH coming the opposite way when we were nearly over so we weren't the only ones breaking the law! lol
Goggle it for images & you will get an idea about the views we enjoyed, we also got to see a glacier & lots of snow, I would say the MH was never so high in her life and she will never be again!
I'll fill you in on our antics again soon ... cool my camper is NOT working so you can imagine the stories I have to tell on that one!

So I have an extended period of time (about an hour!) to get you up to date on what we have been doing.
Bryan & Ella are playing crazy golf in this mini city of a campsite & Polly is recovering after a very long walk on the beach. This is the first day it has been cloudy at Venice & we decided to take her to the beach with us, she loved running away from the waves while all the other dogs were running into them! Only our dog would be different. So I have nipped over to the internet cafe to do some typing & fill you in on a few of our antics!

Staying at Lake Garda seems like a lifetime ago but you didn't get to hear the half of the things that happened!
Thankfully we were staying for nearly 2 weeks, I can quite honestly say if you had only been there for the first week we were at Lake Garda you would be going away not wanting to return, it pretty much rained on & off for the whole week but sure we are hardy & from NI & sure we headed on out in the rain! The poor couple beside us were only there for that week but it was their 6th or 7th time staying at the campsite & they said in all their time coming to Italy on holiday they had never experienced rain like it. We are all used to thunderstorms when on holiday but they usually blow over in an hour or two, this just wasn't the case this year ...

Now one night that we went to Gardaland we were really caught out ... we walked over around the lake at about 6pm, the walk was about 30 or 40 minutes and the sun was shining, as we were coming near the entrance Bryan glanced up & noticed some clouds and just happened to comment that he hoped they would blow over. The first port of call when we arrived in Gardaland was to get a cold drink & a sit down for 5 minutes, when we walked back out it was raining, oh well, sure we're going to get wet so lets go on some waterrides!! After the rides we headed into a wee restaurant for our tea & that's when the real storm started outside with thunder, lightening & people generally running like mad things but sure we sat on & ate our tea ... when we were leaving the restaurant Bryan & I both looked at each other & really did not know what we were going to do. It was now after 9pm, the rain was lashing down & we were all in shorts & T-shirts & no coats or brollies. Nothing else for it but to make a dash for the exit, the only thing was the rain came on really heavy & we had to run for shelter in a shop front. We then made the decision to purchase the green binbag like coats that you see at themeparks (they cost 6 Euro each, I'm still none the better for paying for them!!) and try and find a taxi.
We made our way to the exit & asked where we could get a taxi but oh no that's not an option as you have to ring & book one, could they do that please I asked & was told "no, use your own cellphone," I explained I didn't have one on me & the girl laughed & said who doesn't have a phone?!? Generally we don't take our phones out with us & leave them locked up in the van. The next option was to walk up the main road to the campsite, we very quickly decided that it was not an option, the traffic was manic & it was dark so the only thing we could do was walk back along Garda Lake. With the heavy rain running down into the lake there were stages that the water was up to Ella's knees & we pretty much ran the whole way back. The happy ending to the story is we survived & can at least laugh about the whole experience now.

So my brother arrived with us at Lake Garda & as the weather had been wet up to that stage we hadn't been needing to use Cool my Camper. However, Paul brought the good weather with him & so the sun was shining down on us & warming the van up good & proper. So all the windows & skylights were closed up tight and the CmC turned on full power Now, I am not one to comment (as anyone who knows me personally will agree!) but the first night it was a little sticky in the van but as the night progressed it did cool a little, the 2nd night like that the van was like a sweatbox & my brother said to Bryan 'do you think this thing is working!?' The 2 of them took it down & looked at it & both decided that the tent pitched behind us was getting cooled down more that we were in the MH! So to the internet they headed to make sure it was installed correctly & that they were doing everything properly. Now when they returned 2 hours later they were of the opinion that CmC must be amazing as they could not find a bad report about it anywhere online! They then decided to contact the company & discuss the situation, as it was a Saturday they left a message on an answering machine & we awaited someone contacting us on the Monday ... no one did! Bryan called them on the Monday & the first question he was asked was 'has it leaked?' well if any of you read back it leaked the first time we used it and so the lady explained it had probably leaked gas & needed to be regased at a cost of £40 (in England) she didn't know where we would get it regased in NI or in Italy. The machine is made in Italy so she explained if we could find somewhere that supplies F Gas (the same as ice cream vans use) we could get it regased. At no point did I speak to the company but I can assure you all that when I am at the show in Birmingham in the autumn time I will be making a point of going & speaking with someone very loudly so that others can hear my opinion, Bryan said he wouldn't be surprised if I boycotted their stand!
He thinks that the very fact that she asked the question 'did it leak?' shows that there has to be some sort of a flaw with it in relation to this point. That was all about 2 weeks ago & the happy ending is that we have actually got it fixed today! It only required F gas. Of course, it is a whole other story about how we managed to get it fixed & involves me running into the road to stop a van! I will save that one for another night & will also let you know how efficient it is now that we are in some real heat & it needs to do the job it was designed for.

We're getting the boat to Venice tomorrow & Friday is Bryan 41st birthday
Laters from Bryan, Jill, Ella & Polly x

We are home!
We haven't had internet access for ages so I've lots to fill you in on over the next few days, some funny stories that involve getting stuck in mud & persuading 10+ french people to help us ... need I say any more, it'd only be us!
We're all home safe & sound & ready to storm south Italy next year!!