1089 miles

1089 miles after leaving Bristol, we have arrived in Pescia and checked into the Hotel San Lorenzo & Santa Caterina approximately 0.75 km from our new home:

View from our room - looking up the valley towards Pietrabuona.

We decided to have a relatively late start this morning, knowing that we only had a short drive to do, and we had breakfast, showered and pottered about at the hotel in Santa Margherita Ligure until about 11am.

After checking out we decided to drive a little way along the coastal road rather than heading straight for the autostrade. The scenery was stunning - the road skirts around the edge of the Cinque Terre national park, with breathtaking views along the way.

Although we were anticipating slow progress via the coastal road, we hadn't quite bargained on just how twisty and turny the road would be and in the end we opted to join the autostrade just to give the little car (and our stomachs) a break!

The autostrade itself also passes through the Cinque Terre national park and the scenery has to rate among the best motorway scenery in the world.

After another hour or so on the autostrade we were turning off into familiar territory and heading towards Lucca, and before we knew it we were heading into Pescia.

After a quick stop at Esselunga for some lunch supplies we drove to the hotel to see if we could check in - we were greeted by a very friendly Roberto who kindly gave us a choice of two rooms - we made our choice and we were in!

Stuart went to call in on Keith and Geri at 'our' house to see if we could offload some of our many bags there to avoid us having to cart them around any longer, but no-one was in, so we'll probably try again later.

It's odd, and quite exciting, to think that our new home is only just around the corner from here.

We have a day to spare tomorrow, so we're unsure so far what we'll end up doing, with the meeting at the notary's office (when we should complete the purchase and get our keys) scheduled for 4pm on Friday.

Time to relax for now!

Well done little car!

~ Helen

From Nuits San Georges to Santa Margherita Ligure via the mountains

After a remarkably comfortable night's sleep (all things considered) in our budget hotel and a shower in the toilet-come-shower-cubicle (with tea towels to dry ourselves on - what is it with the obsession in Europe of having tea towels instead of proper fluffy bath towels?!), we had a spot of breakfast then loaded the car and set off on our way.

We headed south towards Macon, then east towards Bourg-en-Bresse, skirting the edge of Geneva and the Swiss border. The terrain turned mountainous not long after we set out, and soon we were driving towards the Mont Blanc massif - spectacular scenery.

We stopped for a leg stretch and a proper look at the scenery just before we reached the Mt Blanc tunnel:

Our little car takes a break before the Mt Blanc tunnel - next stop Italy!

Mt Blanc.

So before we knew it we were entering Italy and making really good progress. We considered driving all the way to Pescia, but decided instead to head for the coast and have an overnight stop in Liguria.

Having communicated our progress and plans for the night to Mum via text message, she suggested we headed for Santa Margherita Ligure and the Imperiale hotel - where her Dad had stayed in 1945 when he was in Italy with the army. It seemed as good a place as any, so we headed for Santa Margherita. The Imperiale proved to be somewhat beyond our budget at €280 per night but we found the Metropole across the road was perfectly adequate for our needs and somewhat less expensive!

The Hotel Imperiale - prices seem to have gone up since my Grandpa was here in 1945...

An almost identical view as on a postcard Grandpa sent to Mum when he stayed here in/at the end of the war in 1945.

After unloading the car (into a room with a comfy bed, a spacious bathroom, a sun terrace, fluffy towels and even a real key with which to lock the room), we went out to explore Santa Margherita Ligure.

We really loved the town - which is full of lots of grand villa-style buildings, many of which seemed a little faded in their glory, but in a romantic fashion, and its setting is beautiful. I wondered what it would have been like when my Grandpa visited in 1945 and whether he had stopped at the same viewpoints.

Santa Margherita Ligure.

I can see the sea!

We relaxed over a couple of glasses of wine and free snacks in the town, before retiring to the hotel for the evening. Our next stop will be Pescia!

~ Helen

Bristol to Nuits St Georges

So the big day finally arrived with a 4.30am alarm call. We managed to get everything loaded into the car with a little help from Dad who had got up to help keep the cats out of the way and see us on our way, and were ready to set off at 5.20am.

I was in the driving seat for the UK leg of the journey, so had to be very grown up and choke back any tears as we pulled away from Mum & Dad's house.

We couldn't have timed it any better really - at that time of the morning on a bank holiday the roads were effortlessly clear, and even the M25 treated us incredibly well.

There was a beautiful sunrise as we drove eastwards, and once again, the British countryside did its best to make us feel terrible for leaving it - lush, green and beautiful.

Sunrise on the M4.

We made such good progress that we had to stop at a service station just outside Folkestone in order to avoid arriving at the tunnel too early - the paperwork advised us not to arrive more than 2h before our scheduled departure.

After a quick stop at the services we made our way to the Eurotunnel terminal and checked in - and were offered the opportunity to take an earlier crossing. We opted to go for the 9.20am crossing (an hour earlier than the one we'd booked), so parked up to get a coffee, breakfast and the essential driving kit for driving in europe: high vis jackets, a warning triangle, beam benders and GB sticker.

Stuart prepares the car for driving in Europe. (Unfortunately no-one prepared Stuart's wardrobe for travelling to the style capital of Europe.)

 We barely had any time to wait before we were loading onto the train.

Next stop France!

Being on the train was one of the weirdest sensations I've experienced - you feel the movement of a train yet sitting in the seat of a car. Quite bizarre. But even more unexpected was finding that we still had mobile signal and were able to text people from deep beneath the sea! Who'd have thought it?!

Before we had even had enough time for a quick snooze, we were disembarking in Calais and on our way into France. It all seemed so quick that I wondered if it was all a big rouse and whether we were actually still in Folkestone - but the French road signs and the cars driving on the right confirmed that we had actually left the UK.

The landscape for most of the journey was fairly unremarkable - we could easily have still been in England but for the architecture of the little villages which was distinctly French in character. We also noted how fond the French seem to be of wind turbines.

Wind turbines a plenty in France.

We stopped for a refreshment break at a service station at around 12pm - after such an early start we were ready for an early lunch and enjoyed eating our sandwiches sitting on the grass in the sunshine.

French services stations are more attractive than British ones - or maybe it's just the weather?!

We'd decided to aim to get as far as Dijon on the first leg of the journey, but in the end continued a little way past Dijon, to the town of Nuits St Georges. There, we quickly found the 'Ibis Budget hotel Nuits St Georges' - conveniently on the edge of town with easy access and car park.

Without even needing to utter a word of French we used the automated machine in the lobby to check availability and book us in for the night. The machine issued us with a receipt showing our room number and access code. The code was to be used for getting out of the car park, getting in through the main hotel door and getting into our room (nothing as traditional as room keys here...). As we unloaded all of our worldly possessions into the room that looked like a cross between a prison cell and a Travelodge room (some might say there isn't much difference between the two anyway), it fleetingly crossed my mind as to whether *everyone* in the hotel had been given the same access code and I started to wonder exactly how secure the room was. I put that to the back of my mind, until Stuart pointed out that our top secret secure room access code was simply the room number backwards twice...

My concerns about the security (or lack thereof) of our room containing all of our valuables made me reluctant to venture far from the hotel, so instead of a stroll into town to see what Nuit St Georges had to offer, we made do with a quick dash to the Carrefour hypermarket a few hundred yards from the hotel to pick up some basic essentials for a picnic and a bottle of plonk in our luxury surroundings:

Gastronomic delights.

Luxury accommodation.

The view was not bad though.

After a couple of glasses of wine (which barely touched the sides!) and some food we were ready for sleep - it had been a long day!

~ Helen

Emotional weekend with families

Saturday morning began with the task of attempting to fit all of our belongings into the car. We were alarmed by how full it was before we had even left the pub - with two more large bags of tools and assorted bits and pieces still to be retrieved from the dojo!

In the dojo car park we somehow managed to jiggle the bags and boxes around just enough to stuff the additional bags and tools in and shut the boot, which meant only one thing: it was time to say our goodbyes to Abingdon and head to Birmingham.

It felt very strange driving out of Abingdon along the roads that are so familiar to us, yet knowing that we won't be back for quite some time.

The drive to Birminhgham was quick and easy and we noticed how beautiful the English countryside looked along our way, with bright yellow fields of rape set against blue skies and a lush green landscape.

We arrived in Birmingham around 12pm. Kerys and Ben were already at Stuart's Mum's house awaiting our arrival, and after unloading the car and putting a load of washing on we all squashed into the car to go out for a carvery lunch. We had a great lunch - in size as well as enjoyment - and talked about our plans for Sheila and Kerys & Ben to come over to visit.

The Smiths - stuffed full of carvery.

It was touch and go as to whether Kerys, Ben and I would all fit in the back of the car after having eaten such an enormous lunch, but somehow we managed it and headed back to Stuart's Mums for a coffee and a sit in the sunshine in the back garden.

All too soon it was time for Stuart to take Kerys and Ben back - it was hard saying goodbye, but we have at least booked flights for them to come and visit in July, so were able to say 'we'll see you in a couple of months' rather than 'we'll see you sometime...'

We spent the evening drinking a bottle of wine and watching a film before retiring to bed.

In the morning it was time to pack up the car again and head south for Gloucestershire. Saying goodbye to Stuart's Mum was even harder, with some tears, but again, we know we will be seeing her in July when she is due to come out to visit with Kerys and Ben.

Our first stop on Sunday was Rach and Andy's in Wickwar where we unloaded the car again, then all piled into their car (Auntie Helen having the 'privilege' of squeezing into the seat in the boot alongside Hannah) to drive to the Major's Retreat pub in Tormarton, where Mum and Dad were already waiting for us.

After a satisfying lunch at the pub we drove to Lower Woods (Auntie Helen once again in the boot seat - with Naomi this time), and once we'd sorted out the loan of suitable footwear (Stuart ended up wearing Dad's walking boots - 3 sizes too big, with lots of socks - and I wore Rachel's wellie boots - half a size too small with no socks), we set off on a very enjoyable tramp through the woods in the sunshine.

The bluebells were just past their best, but still a blanket of gorgeous blue.

The Penningtons, Martins and Smiths.

The Smiths.

After our walk it was back to Wickwar to re-load the car, and on to Mum & Dad's in Bristol to unload again. Rach & Andy and the little Penningtons arrived shortly after us, and Mum put on an amazing spread of food for us all - we were all still quite full from lunch, but the temptation was too great and we all ended up eating close to our body weight in delicious food all over again!

Of course, the other 'people' we got to see in Bristol were our little mogglies, Lucca and Florence. It was lovely to see them, although it took a good hour or so for Lucca to venture out from underneath the bed and come and say hello. They both came round in the end though, and we had lots of cuddles with them both.

Florence cuddles.

Lucca cuddles.

All too soon it was time for Rach & Andy and the kids to leave - prompting the next round of tears for the day. After they had gone, we had a few more cuddles with our little cats and stayed up with Mum and Dad until as late as we could possibly leave it before saying our goodnights - with yet more tears.

Leaving our family, friends and the places we love is definitely the hardest part of this adventure.

~ Helen

Last night in Abingdon

I can't quite believe that the time has finally arrived when we are about to leave Abingdon for good. That's just crazy and doesn't seem real. We love Abingdon and all of our friends here, and will be very sad and emotional when we head off out of town in a couple of hours' time.

After my very last early morning 'quad' class at the dojo yesterday, we spent several hours tearing around town visiting banks, the post office, doctors surgery, council office, watch repairer and bureau de change, and after a break for lunch in the pub we spent most of the afternoon doing admin tasks on the computer. About halfway through the afternoon a wall of tiredness hit me and as I sat on the bed watching a bit of tv I struggled to keep my eyes open. Definitely didn't feel in the mood for a party!

Thankfully that all changed when I pulled myself together, got changed and went down to the pub to settle in for the evening. First to arrive at about 6pm was Adrian from Forresters, who said a flying hello before having to dash off to family duties. Allison then came straight from work, and I was delighted that Cheryl and Chris came despite having another function to go on to - it was lovely to see them. After that everyone seemed to arrive at once: Chloe & Lee, Anne & Dave, Becky & Serge, Lena & Richard, Jennie & Pete, Kath, Markus, Wendy & Lee, Rob, Sharon & Dom, Ben & V, Ady & Viv and Dodge.

It was a lovely night, but I struggled to get my head to really register the reason why we were having a fun evening with all of our friends. Even now I am a bit in denial about the fact we are leaving.

As our guests drifted off gradually through the evening, it got sadder and sadder saying goodbye and seeing them leave. The final straw for me, though, was witnessing the emotional goodbye between Stuart and Dodge - such great friends and partners in work and crime (mainly beer-drinking escapades), it is clear they will each be at a loss without the other. So as we watched Dodge walk out of the pub, that is when the tears started, that is when it sunk in that this morning we leave Abingdon, and that is when I fullyrealised that we won't be seeing our lovely friends on a regular basis.

Everyone has promised to come and visit - they'd better keep their word!

In a couple of hours we pack up the car (hoping desperately that everything still fits!) and head for Birmingham.

~ Helen

...and relax...but only for an hour!

So somehow Helen and I have found ourselves with a spare hour to do nothing but lie on the bed and watch TV, a real novelty! Not only because we've never had a TV in our bedroom but since moving out of our house last week we haven't had a spare minute to watch TV of any sort,

So after an absolutely frantic ten days of improbable logistics, we've finally gathered all of our belongs and clean washing from around Oxfordshire and have it with us at The Brewery Tap in Abingdon (where I currently lie with my frazzled wife beside me) ready for our departure tomorrow and just in time for our leaving party/gathering downstairs in about an hour where the ever excellent staff have roped off a bit of space for us to gather and cause much merriment.

A slow and delicate start predicted for the morning with a drive in a heavily laden Citroen C2 up to Brum to say yet more goodbyes.

Last day of (UK) work

Today is the last day of UK-based work for both of us. Stuart is in Appleton de-artexing (technical term) a couple of ceilings, and I am in the office trying to tie up as many loose ends as possible.

It hasn't really sunk in properly that I'm not going to come to work here any more, and everything seems a bit surreal today.

We're both still really tired - Stuart has had a hectic week of working as well as travelling up and down to Birmingham again, and we're both feeling a bit disoriented and worn out mentally from constantly being on the move between places. I dream of a night in my own bed - then realise I don't have one at the moment (or rather I do, but it is in pieces somewhere in a warehouse in Worcestershire!). I'm not sure either of us has had the chance to recover properly from Saturday night's festivities, and our nomadic lifestyle has meant that we've been staying up later than usual, drinking more than usual and getting up earlier than usual.

The last week or so may have been tiring and disorienting, but our friends have been utterly wonderful in offering us beds and meals, storing bags and boxes, and providing a washing service. Everyone has been so very kind and generous, but we'd like to say special (huge) thank yous to Allison and Q, Sarah and Dave, and Virginia and Ben for the beds and delicious meals, and to Allison, Sarah and Wendy for washing services (I would think that washing my sweaty gym kit would go beyond the call of duty for anyone, so I am extremely grateful that it hasn't had to fester in the back of my car!).

Our bags and belongings are now scattered between Wallingford, Harwell and those that we're still carrying around with us on a daily basis, so one of tomorrow's tasks will be to collect them all up into one place and check they are all present and correct.

The news from Italy is that all the paperwork for the mortgage has been sorted and is all ready to go for the meeting on 9th May. Phew, what a relief!

I will be going into the local branch of my bank today to ask them to make the transfer of funds to the seller - it's quite daunting being responsible for sending such a large sum of money! We need to do it now so that by the time the meeting comes around we have proof of sending the funds and the sellers have proof of receiving them.

Tomorrow's to-do list is pretty long, although we can tick off the job of taking Stuart's car into Oxford to sell because Ben is going to take it off his hands and use it as a runaround for the dojo. It's a bit less stylish than the current Can Do truck, but should trundle from A to B quite happily :-)

Other things we need to do tomorrow include visits to the bank, the post office and the council offices (to return a garage key), as well as various bits of admin/paperwork and trying to get everything in order.

We're inviting friends to join us for a drink at the Brewery Tap tomorrow evening - we're hoping to see lots of friendly faces, but not so sure I like the idea saying our goodbyes!

~ Helen