Van Tour 09

The best 3 months of our lives travelling around Europe in a wicked camper

Picking up our Wicked Camper at the Depot in London was a highlight as we
were so excited on embarking on 3 months of adventure and quickly came
to realize that this little beauty with such a lovely slogan on the back was
to be our home for the next 3 months!!

The Adventure begins. . . . . .

With our Chief Driver set and ready to go we boarded the Ferry to arrive in Calais.
She did very well in driving on the wrong side of the road particularly our first round about.
Even Dorris (our SatNav) had some teething problems!

Once in Calais we headed South to the West Coast of France. I don’t think we’ve ever been so
hot! After a few days we arrived in San Sebastian to a campground loaded with our Van Tour
revelers. Tonight was a night of meet and greet and plenty of booze. The next morning was
nothing short of a miserable rainy day and after visiting the beach we returned to discover everyone had been kicked out of the campground for being to noisy—

WELCOME TO VAN TOUR 09!!!

Our next mission was to find the camp ground in Pamplona. But once there we had the most brilliant
time with the free flow of Sangria and plenty of white wear to be turned red!!!

Once running of the bulls was ticked off our list we headed down to Lagos in Portugal and
realised that our wicked camper was not quite big enough to fit 6 people and there were going
to be several nights of camping at dodgy truck stops and experimenting with different sleeping patterns!

But onward to Lagos where there was several nights (7 in total) of £10 power hour, boat trips, punch clubs, camp ground drinking sessions and general raucous behaviour to be had!!

The Adventure continues in Spain and France . . . . . .

Although Lagos was gorgeous, and there was a lot to be said about the temperature of the water!

From Lagos the trip went overseas again to Morrocco where there were plenty of great Camel outfits, dust and great food to be consumed. The camel ride was long and sore but well worth it on the arrival to our awesome tents for the night. There was sand as far as the eye could see including in our mouth, food, hair, nails and every skin cell we had!

Back on the mainland (Spain) we headed up the coast to Barcelona where we caught up with our other VT mates the Camel Toe, Leppajamma, Tag team, Stink Knuckle and No name. Where more funnels and beach drinking took place. . .

Andorra was an undiscovered treasure and a place that will definitely be revisited!

It was decided we would take our time along the French Coast so we could take in all that it
had to offer including the riches and overflow of money however we didn’t win our fortune
at any casino along the way! We met some friends also doing van tour who unfortunately
broke down but our trusty old NYPD wicked has kept on trucking! St Tropez was a highlight and
it’s not often you get stuck between a Chanel boutique and a Ferrari!

Then there was Monaco which was a little bit of a let down and not so dripping with money
as we though but we still managed to blow a bit at the casino and have a good look around.

The Adventure continues in Italy and Greece . . . . . .

As we were approaching Italy we heard from our friends who were ahead of us at Clinque terra one of the more beautiful spots not to be missed!

From here we had some interesting adventures free camping with 8 other vans so continued down
the coast to Pisa where there were naked funnels and plenty of token tourist shots taken.

From Pisa (which was literally a stop for photos) it was onto Florence where we had to split up to get into a camp ground before heading into town to a pub crawl. Not your average pub crawl, one that involved swimming in fountains and causing carnage infront of David!

Rome was next on the agenda and more pub crawls while checking out what the Vatican had to offer. We didn’t get to see the Pope but we had a great tour guide round the city.

After doing the South of Italy which definitely wasn’t our favourite place, Naples would be one of the more dodgy places we’ve been in our lives. Good thing wicked provided a good deterrent.. . . .

We headed to Bari to get the ferry to Greece,. However after taking a wrong turn we all ended up stuck on the Amalfi Coast not being able to do a U-Turn.

The Adventure continues in Greece, Croatia, Hungary and Poland . . . . . .

By this stage we were all ready to hit Greece and have a well earned break for a few days . .
.the Ferry one was one that will be remembered and once in Greece it was not so much a
break as to 3 days of solid partying at Far Out Camp Ground in Ios!. . . . .

. . . . And more sight seeing and partying in Santorini!

When we got back to the mainland it was up to Venice for a mosquito biting frenzy and the most weird and wonderful city on earth! Cruising down the canals and shopping at the markets, eating great food and enjoying the summer sun.

From Italy it was a quick drive through Slovenia and onto Croatia where we parked up at a great
little spot for 3 days and relaxed on the beach, got a great tan and enjoyed some of the best sunsets and water sports Europe had to offer.

Once we entered Eastern Europe it felt like our fun in the Sun had come to a screaming holt! Budapest was the last of the good weather and we took the opportunity to have a practise run at 100 club!

Onto Krakow where the atmosphere was sullen after visiting Auswitch Concentration Camp. However the boys kept us entertained with their amazing rugby skills and drinking abilities.

The Adventure continues in Czech Republic, Austria and Germany. . . . .

Once we hit Prague it was all about the clubbing and seeing the clock that we had heard so much about (turns out it wasn’t such a big deal). We met up with another van at the camp ground taking our grand total of convoy members to 35 people and 8 vans!

Trying to find a supermarket was the biggest mission but that didn’t stop the beers arriving and plenty of wine being consumed. There were many adventures to be had and we were having so much fun we ended up staying at the camp ground much longer than we expected. Not once did we get told to keep the noise down, always a bonus!

From Prague it was down to Salzberg which was a highlight for the Sound of Music fans, undeniably
beautiful we had a free night in a hostel and did a bit of sight seeing while one poor VT09 member
spent the next few days in hospital with an infected foot. The joys of becoming scabby on Van Tour.

By this stage on van tour the healthy eating option had gone out the window and in most places we
dined on the very fine McDonalds. The signs in Salzberg were awesome.

Once we had seen everything in Salzberg we headed for the eagles nest which was a spectacular
view and gave us a chance to have a practise stein before we embarked on the most drinking
possible in 3 days!

Finally the day had come to arrive in Munich, Beerfest and100 club this was what everyone
had been hanging out for! Another gathering of all the vans and a chance to catch up
with those met along the way. What was to come was a great end to Van Tour and the best 3
days of beer and bratwurst consumption ever!!

Thanks to Wicked Campers for providing us with a trusty NYPD Van, to all the great people we
met along the way we should have a vt09 reunion, I’m sure everyone could wangle a few
months off work to do it all over again.

For those of you who are thinking of doing VT, it is a total must– you will meet friends for
life while seeing some of the most beautiful places in the world!!! VT it’s Highly recommended!
X Jodie, Beth & Amber