Sardinia – north and east

We’d travelled through Corsica from Bastia in the north to Bonifacio in the south. On Friday 22^nd June we said farewell to the island and took the ferry crossing to Sardinia.  It took only 50 minutes – the islands are that close, although they belong to different countries.  Time to forget the French we’d been practising and try to remember our very basic Italian!

Santa Teresa

The ferry lands at Santa Teresa, a town which was very different from our expectations. We’d got the impression that it was a small place, and our main reason for spending a day there was because we’d read about a walk to a lighthouse, which sounded interesting.  In fact, the town was a bustling seaside resort, with a beach, a castle and lots of bars and restaurants. The ‘walk to the lighthouse’ was not as we imagined either. There was a footpath to Capo Testa, but some of the walking had to be on roads. And once on the cape, there was a selection of short walks.  One went to the lighthouse, but the most interesting was to the Valle de la Luna, where there are rock formations in incredible profusion.

Costa Smeralda

Next day we took the bus to Olbia Airport, where we picked up a hire car. We understood that public transport was not good on Sardinia, so it was best to have a car for our circuit of the island.  First we explored the Costa Smeralda, but were rather disappointed.  This is apparently where the rich and famous come to play, but we are not entirely sure why.  Some of the beaches (tucked away in small bays) are attractive, being framed by pinkish-coloured rocks, but ‘drop-dead gorgeous’ is we feel an exaggeration.  Maybe we’ve been spoilt by Florida!

We stayed overnight in Porto Rotondo, which we did not particularly like, and the next day paid a brief visit to Porto Cervo, which we liked even less. We stayed two nights in Palau, so that we could take the ferry across to La Maddalena on the intervening day.

We visited two of the islands in the archipelago: La Maddalena itself and Caprera, which is joined to the main island by a causeway.  Again, some scenic (but very crowded) beaches; little else to get excited about.

Before leaving Palau we detoured to Capo Orso, where there is a big rock in the shape of a bear. You have to pay to park, and to climb the path leading to the Bear.  But it was worth it.  The rocks (not just the Bear) were amazing, and the views were great.

The Gulf of Orosei

The Gulf of Orosei (further down the east coast) has some stunning beaches along the north of the gulf, but they are quite different from those on the Costa Smeralda: long stretches of sand, backed by pine trees and framed by mountains, as opposed to small rocky coves.  The town of Orosei is attractive too, with more than its fair share of picturesque churches.  It was spoilt only by the traffic thundering through the narrow streets – much better after dark, when streets were pedestrianised, stalls were put out, and the place acquired a magical atmosphere.

On leaving Orosei we went inland from the Gulf and walked to Tiscali, the remains of a neolithic settlement.   We’d heard that the 2-hour hike was difficult, so we were not sure we’d cope, but it was easier than we’d imagined.  The scenery was wonderful, reminiscent of Zion National Park, and Tiscali itself – built within a huge collapsed cave – had echoes of Mesa Verde.  (If you’re beginning to think we’re obsessed with American national parks, you’re probably right.)  Tiscali is high on a hill, but impossible to see from even a short distance away.  And trekking through the mountains is the only means of access. To get to the starting point, you have to drive 12km down a very narrow winding road, which was quite scary – worse than the walk!

Our next stop was Cala Gonone, a bit further down the Gulf of Orosei. The coast to the south is unreachable except by boat, and a cruise is recommended as a highlight of a trip to Sardinia.  From Cala Gonone boats of every shape and size make the trip. We were greatly relieved to discover that we’d come at the right time – boat trips for the previous two days had been cancelled, due to rough seas (seems to be a frequent theme of this year’s travels).  On our day in Cala Gonone the boats were out again, which mean that an awful lot of people wanted to go. Many tours were sold out, but we managed to get tickets for a ‘mini-cruise’ on the ‘big boat’ which sails along the coast.

The scenery was more or less as we expected: steep limestone cliffs plunging into the sea, and riddled with caves.  We visited the one large cave where you can do guided tours (but not take photos).  We made three stops at different beaches.  These were picturesque coves, as anticipated, but the beaches were mainly stone or shingle rather than sand, making it not so comfortable to sit or walk. And they were so crowded – Brighton beach on Bank Holiday Monday would seem deserted by comparison.

Heading south

After leaving Cala Gonone, we headed south down the west coast (more or less).  The first part of our journey took us through the Supramonte mountains: a slow trip along winding roads, but giving us the opportunity to enjoy some beautiful scenery.  We stopped for coffee at Arbatax, an unexciting little port, but (following a hint in our guidebook) we got to see some very impressive red and grey rocks on the edge of the sea.  After that the road became much easier and faster, so it did not take us long to reach the south coast.

Corsica – after the walk

Our walking holiday essentially finished in Porto.  We had an extra day there as we wanted to visit the Réserve Naturelle de Scandola, one of the highlights of the west coast.  It can only be reached by boat, and we planned to do a trip from Porto. Unfortunately, all the boat trips were cancelled on Thursday morning, because the sea was too rough.

We didn’t waste the time though.  In the morning we climbed the Genoese tower in the harbour – not exciting inside, but the views were great.  Then we did our washing!  We’d collected quite a lot, but had not managed to track a laundrette in Porto.  When we checked at the tourist office, they told us to go to one of the nearby campgrounds, where the facilities could be used by non-campers. Somehow this idea had never occurred to us before!  It was a pleasant walk to get there, and we enjoyed our morning coffee sitting by their impressive pool while our washing churned away nearby.

Red rocks

In the afternoon, the boat trips re-started, but we were warned that the sea was still ‘a little rough’.  In fact, one lady told us it was not a good idea for people prone to sea-sickness – and she was selling tickets!  We are not good sailors, so were dubious about going.  On the other hand, this was our only chance to go to Scandola, and there was nothing else to do that afternoon.  So we agonised.  In the end, Sandie decided to chance it, and Ian decided against.  Although the waves were quite strong, she survived and even enjoyed the trip. The red rocks were amazing – she described the area as ‘Utah on sea’.

Next morning we did the short bus journey to the village of Piana, where we stayed for 24 hours.  Piana was the ideal base for seeing the Calanche, another area of colourful, weirdly-shaped rocks.  But this time we could see them from land, so we spent a happy day wandering around, and did not have to worry about getting sea sick.

In the evening we enjoyed watching and being caught up in a village wedding.

Megaliths and mountains

On Saturday morning we travelled on by bus to Ajaccio, and spent the rest of the day exploring the city.  Napoleon is ‘big’ all over Corsica, but especially in Ajaccio, where he was born.  Every square has a statue of him, and in one there is a huge memorial, topped by a statue like the one in Les Invalides (Paris), where he was buried.  We didn’t manage to get inside the cathedral, but we found the fishermen’s church of St Erasme interesting.

On Sunday morning we collected a rental car from the airport, in order to visit some places that would be difficult (or impossible) by public transport.  First we headed south, and visited some prehistoric sites.  At Filitosa, there are menhirs, some with facial features and outlines of swords, in groups around an attractive rural site.  Later we visited Cauria, a tucked-away village where there are three distinct sites linked by a footpath.  There are more menhirs, in rows, but the most impressive structure is the Dolmen [burial chamber] de Fontanaccia.

A bit further we managed to find the path to Palaggiu. We walked about a mile to reach the menhirs; there are reputed to be 258, lost on the maquis.   We reckoned we saw at least 50, some standing, some lying flat, some at strange angles.  A fantastic sight!

We spent the night in the nearby town of Sartene, and next morning headed off into the mountains.

We stopped at the touristy village of Zonza, which was smaller and less interesting than we expected, so we pressed on to the Col de Bavella.  This is definitely a big tourist attraction – we were amazed by the number of cars parked (or trying to park) there.  Needless to say, we took photos of the Aiguilles [Needles – no pun intended] of Bavella.  And we did a short hike (2-hour round trip) to see the Trou de la Bombe, basically a hole in the Paliri peaks. This was billed as an easy walk, and most of the time it was – until the final section, where the path virtually disappeared, and we had to scramble over rocks to reach our goal.

A day by the sea

We returned to Ajaccio on Monday evening. We had the car for another day (for some reason, three days cost virtually the same as two) but after a lot of driving around steep, winding roads, we wanted something more relaxing.  So we drove the short distance from Ajaccio to the Iles Sanguinaires, a miniature archipelago.  There are endless beaches on the way, and we stopped briefly at a couple. Boats to the islands were not running (a familiar story!) but you get good views from the Punta della Parata, the headland at the end of the road.

We then did a 90-minute walk to the Plage de St Antoine. There are two bays, small and large.  We discovered that you can drive there, and there are beach bars, so it did not quite fit the description in our (outdated) guidebook.  However, the walk was pleasant, with some good views, and we were grateful for cold drinks, as the weather was very hot – a complete contrast to our early days in Corsica.

Last stop Bonifacio

From Ajaccio we took the bus to Bonifacio, at the very south of Corsica.  (This meant retracing some of the route we’d taken by car, but there was no alternative – we’d looked into one-way car hires, but they were incredibly expensive.)  Bonifacio is an amazing place: the old town (haute ville) is perched high on some layered chalk cliffs, unlike anywhere else in the world.  We stayed in a hotel on the marina, and enjoyed strolling round the lively port.  We also explored the haute ville, which included walking down the steps of the King of Aragon (leading to a walkway below the cliffs) and going into tunnels that were used during the second world war.

But our main aim was to get good views of this amazing place. We went for long walks along the cliffs in both directions, timing them so that we’d be in the right place to see the sun shining on the city.  And we went for a boat trip, so we could get the view from the sea, looking up at the cliffs.

Daddy, can I have one, please?

As well as views of the city, we looked out to sea where we could see clearly the coast of Sardinia, only about seven miles away. A foretaste of our next destination!

 

Corsica – the walk!

Although we’d always wanted to visit Corsica, we’d been doubtful about doing a walking holiday there.  The island is of course mountainous, and we’d understood that the paths might be too challenging for us.  However, we heard of a walk that didn’t sound too bad, and fitted in with where we wanted to go.  So we decided to take a chance.

Walking day 1

We were due to be picked up from our hotel in Corte at 8.30, and taken to the starting point for the walk.  By 8.45 there was no sign of a taxi, so Ian phoned the Corsican agency, and eventually the taxi turned up. Apparently the driver had been doing a tour of all the hotels in Corte, looking for us!

We had a 30-minute drive through glorious scenery, and then started our walk. After the past few days, we were worried about the weather, but it stayed warm and sunny all day.  The walk was relatively short, on rocky paths, uphill a lot of the time but not too difficult. And the scenery was wonderful.  We particularly enjoyed our lunch break at the Pont d’Ercu, an old stone bridge crossing a series of small waterfalls.

We reached Calacuccia, our destination village, had welcome drinks and checked into our hotel.  As it was still only 4pm, we decided to explore the lake, but found that access was not as easy as we had anticipated.  We found a footpath and followed that as far as we could.  Then we climbed up to a road, and were not sure which way to walk in order to return to the village.  We chose the wrong way, of course, but eventually found our way back.

Walking day 2

Today’s walk was longer, but with no transfers, so we left our hotel at 8.15.  To begin with, it was a fairly easy walk, following the lake.  Later it went uphill, and wound through gorse-clad hills and pine forests – all very pleasant, but with fewer views of the mountains than yesterday.  We passed cows, goats and sheep; we saw brilliant green lizards and dung beetles busy about their work.  We crossed several streams (and managed not to get too wet).  We paused for a break at what our notes described as a ‘charming place’, with a bridge over the river and a disused chestnut mill (chestnuts are a big thing in Corsica).

There was a lot of uphill climbing in the afternoon, and we were looking forward to reaching our destination.  At one point we were supposed to join the ‘legendary’ GR20, but somehow we managed to miss it.   We ended up at the Col di Vergio, where there is a massive statue of Christ, and – wonder of wonders! – a bar.  We had some much-needed liquid refreshment before walking down the road to our accommodation.

Walking day 3

We stayed two nights in the Hotel Castel di Vergio, allowing us to do a long walk up the mountain on the intervening day. We were doubtful about completing the whole walk, but hoped we might do the first two of the three parts outlined in our walk notes.  We were disappointed to find that the weather was grey and cloudy, with occasional spots of rain.

Part 1 of the walk followed the GR20, which was narrower and rockier than we expected, and involved quite a bit of clambering between and over boulders. It ended at the Radule Bergeries, which offers refreshment (we’d been told) between June and August. We arrived just after 11 – coffee time! – but it was closed.  We continued on Part 2, but did not get far.  According to our walk notes, there is a footbridge over the Golo River, but this did not exist.   (The evidence suggested that it had collapsed and was being rebuilt.)  Crossing the river otherwise was too difficult for us – it was fast flowing and quite deep.  We watched a couple of young girls do it, but chickened out of following them.

So – back to the hotel!  We spent the afternoon reading, or using the laptop.  It would have been a great opportunity for catching up with emails, and doing other jobs involving the Internet, but sadly, the hotel had no wifi.

Walking day 4

When we woke, there was no sign of the mountains from our bedroom window – they were lost in a thick, heavy mist.  It continued grey and cloudy all morning, with light rain on and off.  The walk to Evisa was relatively short, but certainly not easy.  Large sections went steeply downhill, and involved a lot of clambering over rocks – in some places the path was not easy to identify.

The worst moment came when we reached a suspended footbridge over the river Aitone.  The biggest problem was not the footbridge itself, but getting onto it!  It was anchored to a large boulder, but there were no steps or other obvious ways of reaching the bridge.  We explored the area, feeling baffled and frankly nervous.  Finally Ian managed (with difficulty) to cross from another rock, then Sandie passed across the rucksack, cameras etc before making the leap herself.

The last part of the walk was less challenging, but not particularly enjoyable, because by then it was pouring with rain.  We had to walk on slippery stones, or through a river of liquid mud.  We were glad to arrive at our accommodation in the village of Evisa.  Once we were safely there, the weather improved dramatically, and the early evening was perfect.  We had dinner on the hotel’s (covered, but mainly glazed) terrace; we enjoyed the beautiful views and took photos of the amazing sunset.

Walking day 5

According to our notes, we were supposed to walk from Evisa to Ota, and then on to Porto, on the west coast, where our walk effectively ended.  Given that our walking speed is much slower than the average quoted in the notes, we were doubtful about completing the whole walk before nightfall.  And when we read the description of Part 2 – swinging down for 30 minutes using trees for support – we decided that we would do Ota to Porto by road.

The walk to Ota sounded OK – but in reality it was far from easy.  There was a very long downhill stretch which was mainly picking our way over wet rocks.  There was some attractive scenery as we walked through the Spelunca Gorge, though it would have looked better if it had not been raining.  In particular, we came to an attractive two-level waterfall, but we had to walk through the stream connecting the two parts.

That wasn’t too bad, but later we came to a place where we had to cross a raging torrent – with no bridge. Unfortunately, there was no way of avoiding it.  And crossing barefoot would have been dangerous on the slippery rocks.  So our boots got full of water, and we squelched for the rest of the day.

This experience confirmed our desire to leave the path at the earliest opportunity. Luckily the path crossed the road a mile or so before Ota – we have never been so glad to see tarmac!  We followed her road into Ota, where we had a pleasant lunch break, and then on to Porto, and our hotel.  On the way we passed a large number of fairly elaborate family tombs by  the side of the road.

Final thoughts

If you’ve managed to read this far, you’ll know that we encountered several problems on our Corsica walk (not to mention the frequent wet weather, which didn’t help).  As we said at the beginning, we knew the walk might be challenging for us, but enquiries led us to believe we could cope. There were times during the walk when we felt we’d made the wrong decision!  And we certainly breathed a huge sigh of relief when we reached Porto.  But we also felt a sense of achievement – we’d tackled the walk, and survived!

Corsica – before the walk

This year’s big European trip began in Corsica, a place that’s long been on our bucket list; in fact, Ian recalled being keen to go there even as a child.  On Sunday 3^rd June we flew direct from Stansted to Bastia, a service which Air Corsica started only the month before.  They must have known we were coming!

Welcome to Corsica!

Bastia

Bastia is not highly rated as a tourist destination, but parts of the city are very picturesque, especially the harbour area known as the Old Port.  We spent Sunday afternoon strolling round in the sun, taking lots of photos as usual.

We had the whole of Tuesday in Bastia too – the only problem was that we’d seen most of the key sites on Sunday!  We extended our exploration a bit further, and went inside a few churches (we’d not done this earlier, because we wanted to make the most of the good weather on Sunday – a wise decision, because Tuesday was not so great).  Most of these churches were very dark, and/or not very interesting.  But we enjoyed sitting by the harbour, enjoying the views, or in the Place St-Nicolas, watching the massive ferries come in and out of the port.

Not quite ready for its MOT!

Cap Corse

From Bastia a finger of land extend northwards.  It is called Cap Corse, and described rightly as being very beautiful, so we hired a car for a day in order to do the circuit.  What we hadn’t realised (no matter how much research you do, you always miss something) was that the airport was a long way out of town, so we wasted a lot of time going to collect our car.

We knew that the D80 road, which goes round the coast, would be narrow and winding, but it was more challenging that we had anticipated.  In some places the cliffs drop straight into the sea, and we were driving along a narrow ledge.  It made for slow going, and some scary moments, especially when large vehicles were coming at speed in the opposite direction!

Working our way up the east coast, our first stop was at Erbalunga, a very picturesque village.  We enjoyed strolling around and had our morning coffee sitting in the sun in an attractive square. That proved to be the highlight of the day, partly because the weather deteriorated rapidly afterwards.

It became cool and grey, with strong winds. We stopped briefly to take photos of the Tour de l’Osse, and of Porticciolo, a smaller village.  Crossing to the west coast, we stopped at the Moulin Mattei, and walked up to the mill to get the fantastic views – but it was blowing a gale, so we hurried back to the car.

We had lunch in Centuri, but found the village was 4 km off the ‘main’ road, and the access was not easy.

Our next stop was meant to be Nonza, but we could not find anywhere to park, so we stopped just beyond the village and got some views back.

By the time we reached St-Florent it was raining and we decided not to stop. We had to return the car by 7pm (or by 9am next morning).  So we pressed on, with a detour to visit the striking and unusual church of San Michel de Muratu.  Up in the hills, the weather really was bad, with limited visibility.  Miraculously we managed to find the church and then find our way to the airport, arriving just in time to meet our deadline.

Cap Corse is a great place to visit, but it would be good to have more time – and better weather!!!

Calvi

Corsica has a small railway network, said to be an enjoyable way of exploring the island’s mountainous interior without the hassle of driving.  It is very slow, but if you’re on holiday that doesn’t matter.  Trains only go to a few major cities, but we went from Bastia to Calvi.  The scenery was not quite as dramatic as we’d hoped – again, it might have looked better in the sun.

Welcome to Calvi!

Calvi is in some respects similar to Bastia. It has a port, and a citadel; we decided that we preferred Bastia’s old port, but Calvi’s citadel – you can walk around the ramparts, and get excellent views of the city.  By the time we did the tour, in the late afternoon, the sun had emerged and the views were great.  Unlike Bastia, Calvi is a tourist town – it is packed with holidaymakers and caters for their every perceived need.

On Thursday we awoke to blue skies and sunshine. We’d already seen the town centre, which is small, so decided to combine two suggested walks to viewpoints outside the city.  The first was a chapel high in the hills; certainly a great viewpoint, but by the time we arrived the sun had all but disappeared.

It was quite a long trek to our second goal, a lighthouse on a peninsula went of Calvi.  A small detour brought us to a beach bar at exactly 11am – coffee time!!!

By the time we reached the lighthouse, the clouds were black and threatening; while we were taking photos, the rain started.  We returned by the most direct path, but while we were walking the rain poured and the thunder crashed around us.  We had our cagoules and rain capes; even so, when we reached the beach bar, we were soaked.  We had a light lunch and a couple of drinks, hoping the rain would ease – but no luck.  The path back to Calvi was flooded in places, so we got very wet feet.  We were glad to reach our hotel, and dry off!

Corte

En route to Corte

We were up early on Friday to catch the train to Corte, in the centre of the island.  Corte is in a hollow surrounded by mountains, some of them snow-capped: a very beautiful setting, especially with some sunshine. But our arrival was rather spoilt.  We were to begin our walk next day, and our hotel in Corte was included in the package.  We’d been instructed to take a taxi there from the station, but there were no taxis, and enquiries revealed that there was only one in the city – and it was fully booked for the next four hours.  We had no option but to walk, something we would not normally mind doing, but dragging a heavy case uphill for more than a mile was not much fun.

A long pull

However, when we’d recovered we enjoyed the rest of the day, exploring the town and the citadel, walking along the river and trying a few of the town bars. Needless to say, the sun did not last; we had rain on and off, but managed to be indoors when it was worst, so avoided getting soaked again!

The Great Family Reunion

After our Menorca trip, we returned to High Wycombe on Friday 25^th May.  We were at home just long enough to catch up with the washing and ironing, and go to our folk dance club in Marlow, for the first time since last October.

A weekend in Bussage

On Saturday we were off to Bussage, for a grand reunion of the Schagen clan. We’d pre-booked a hire car, but when Ian went to collect it he was told they needed two additional pieces of ID, e.g. utility bills with full address, issued within the last three months.  This was annoying, to say the least, since the office was some distance from our flat.  Ian phoned Sandie, who found the relevant documents, went by bus to the town centre and handed them over to Ian who had meanwhile caught a bus back into town.  Then he had to go back again – real fun and games, and we arrived in Bussage much later than planned.

Still, it was worth it!  Paul and Alexa arrived at Claire’s just after us, and Andrew & co turned up a bit later. It was the first time all of our children and grandchildren had been together since Paul’s wedding, nearly four years ago. We used the opportunity to take some updated family photos.  In the evening we had dinner at the nearby Lamb Inn: 17 of us in total, including Maggi, her fiancé Phil and son Chris, Ant’s mother Jill and stepfather Bill.  Quite a gathering!

One for all and all for one!

Claire and Ant’s tribe

Andrew and Ellie’s tribe

The motley crew

Dinner at the Lamb

Sunset over Eastcombe

Next day Claire and Ant hosted an early lunch for most of us, then people began heading off to various parts of the country.  First Andrew and family, then Paul and Alexa – and finally Claire and Ant.  They were having an overnight trip to Exeter, as a belated celebration for Claire’s birthday four days earlier.  They returned home on Monday, and on Tuesday Claire was off on a work trip to Singapore.  Meanwhile, we were left in charge of the boys for the half-term holiday.

A week (well, almost) in Wycombe

On Monday we drove back to Wycombe with Charlie and Oscar.  We decided to stop somewhere interesting on the way, and the vote was for Chedworth Roman Villa. It wasn’t until we parked that Charlie realised he’d visited before, on a school trip last year!  We said he could be our guide and show us round.

Arrival at Chedworth

Mosaic flooring

In the bath house

Local wildlife

A walk in the woods

When we reached Wycombe, the sun was shining and the boys went out to play. Unfortunately Charlie’s rugby ball got wedged high up in a tree.  Shaking the tree did not help, so Opa was summoned and went out with a long stick – which did not reach the ball.  So it was back for the step stool, and part of the collapsed wardrobe, which was cobbled together with the stick, to form a loop which did finally reach the ball.  After several unsuccessful attempts at prodding it, Ian was able to release it from the tree.

Disaster!

Rescue party

Unfortunately, the weather forecast for the holiday could not have been much worse: grey, miserable and lots of rain for the rest of the week.  We tried to think of suitable places to go – but even some of our plans had to be revised as the week went on.  On Tuesday we went to see the new Star Wars film, Solo.  On Wednesday we went bowling; Ian won both games and Sandie came last, as usual.

According to every forecast we consulted, Thursday was to be the worst day, with thunderstorms all day.  So we went to Coral Reef, a leisure pool near Bracknell, which used to be a family favourite and has recently had more flumes installed.  We went early in the morning, as we’d been advised the queues would not be so bad at opening time.  But they were bad enough – we waited about 30 mins to get in, and 45 mins for one of the water slides! The pool was crowded of course, and there was barely time for two slides before our session was up.

The annoying thing was that the weather forecasts were completely wrong. When we left Coral Reef it was sunny and quite warm!!!  It seemed a shame to be indoors, so we went to Black Park, strolled round the lake and gave the boys time on the adventure playground.

What’s this queue for, exactly?

Cute coot

Discussion group

Memories of Blue-Tongued Lizard Man

What do you mean, I’ve got weird feet?

The weather was also good on Friday, but we could not go out for the day as we had a conference call lined up for the afternoon.  In the morning we went to Denham Country Park, and in the afternoon (since the call did not last long) we went to the Rye in Wycombe.

On Saturday Sandie had a haircut, then Ian returned the hire car.  This turned out to be as problematic as picking it up a week ago.  The car was checked, all in order, and our deposit refunded.  But shortly afterwards we received an email saying that we would be charged for damage under the bumper, which was certainly not caused by us.  The saga continues!

While Ian was out, Claire and Ant arrived. They stayed for lunch, and then took the boys home. Now we are getting busy with washing, ironing and packing.  Tonight we are going to a barn dance – and tomorrow we are off on our travels again!