ilop
We've found a stunning campsite in a remote Dolomite village called Sesto far off the main road heading south and high in altitude at 1500m.
The drive was stunning.
The further we drove, the higher we got and the more snow sprinkled the trees and ground. Officially we should have had at least chains in our boot, perhaps even on our tyres and although it concerned us somewhat, we carried on. The roads appeared clear.
The Dolomites are a UNESCO world heritage site and they are as every bit as beautiful as you can possibly imagine. The mountains here seem to have a more rugged, sheer terrain than the peaks we just left.
The campsite is fantastic. Luxury Alpine resort complete with health spa, fine dining, swimming pool and marble at every turn. Of course it's 40€ a night but they offer us the gravel roof of their car park for 23€. We take it.
Luckily they include the bathroom facilities which are that of a 5* hotel; it was heavenly walking in, first through the huge old farmhouse door, then past a modern glass door to keep the heat in, you were met with complete Italian luxury. All our camping facilities so far have been either rotten or moderate and clean, some even nice. But nothing has been on this scale, so you'll understand my enthusiasm.
Unfortunately the roof top camping left a lot to be desired. It was wet, snowy, filthy gravel. Because the temp had dropped to below 2ºc during the day, it was snow coats, hats, gloves and boots every time we left the caravan. It was virtually impossible to clean off before entering again. It made for a huge mess. The picture doesn't below really doesn't do the dirt justice. There was dirty wet gravel in every impossible to reach crevice by the door and it happened every time we came in.
Holland built some mini snow men.
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The water pump woke us grinding at 4am. This meant that it was either empty (which it wasn't as Holland and I had only just filled it) or as the temperature had dropped to -5º, the water was frozen. We could see our breath just outside the duvet; luckily our collection of 4 bodies under one duvet meant we stayed toasty. Emily & Holland, not having the luxury of sharing and body heat, cuddle up to a couple of hot water bottles each under their multitude of blankets & duvets.
We weren't sure where it's frozen; pipes under the caravan somewhere?
To defrost it, we must warm the caravan. We lit the gas to fire up our heater, as the electric trips it. They included electricity in the 23€ and we realised why. We didn't get more than 0.5 kw/h and that wouldn't heat a mouse hole. We also discovered we couldn't boil the kettle at the same time as watching the tv. In fact, boiling the kettle alone involved several trips to the fuse box.
The gas ran out.
We needed gas, drinking water, toilet paper, to thaw the pipes and chains for our tyres.
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There are other problems you wouldn't necessarily consider when you live in a caravan. Smaller, insignificant issues become larger and more significant.
Smells.
Normally we have our own room or the bathroom to retreat to, to get some privacy. Not here though.
Some people can tolerate spray deodorant and nail varnish remover, others find it unbearable.
This can cause a lot of frustration with nowhere to go to perform every day activities other than to traverse frozen ground to the toilets a good 5 minutes walk away.
So we have new rules and new rules come out everyday.
Here are some of our rules:
no nail varnish
no nail varnish remover
no spray deodorant
no brushing hair (ok, this isn't a smell thing, just a loose hair everywhere problem)
no inane singing (that's a hearing thing)
no farting (back to the smell thing)
no shaving at the sink (hair again)
&
no clipper hair removal
So, with plain nails and tangled hair, I wish you arrivederci.
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