LOOKING OUT 2019

Occasional Comments on the Passing Scene in 2019

Barry Williamson

See also: Looking Out 2018, Looking Out 2017,  Looking Out 2016,  Looking Out 2013,  Looking Out 2012,  Looking Out 2011

July 2019 (Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia)

Gaining a Sense of Proportion
On the western bank of the River Bug and very near the point where Poland, Belarus and the Ukraine meet, this morning we visited the Sobibor Extermination Camp where the Germans murdered over 200,000 people in 1942-43. Asphyxiated by the exhaust from a diesel engine (taken from a captured Russian tank), a majority of the victims were Jewish people from Poland, but substantial numbers were also taken from Germany, Czechoslovakia and the Netherlands. And it was only one of three such camps along the River Bug, the other two being Belzec and Treblinka.

Experiences such as this give us a sense of proportion in dealing with the ordinary everyday problems of living when so many lives were so cruelly cut short.

Heading North in Bulgaria
The motorhome, rejuvenated by its new engine battery, carried us over the Shipka Pass to Camping Veliko Tarnovo for a couple of nights. Nick & Nicky continue to prosper and their pool is splendid. We enjoyed a good meal with them in the restaurant, but the campsite itself was very quiet. The price is high but in keeping with the facilities and they have a staff of sixteen to keep as well as themselves! They have 2 shifts of waitresses, chefs and lifeguards, as well as a cleaner, manager and gardener.

Camping Batak
Our review and photos of Camping Batak and its surrounding area high in Bulgaria's Rhodope Mountains are at:
http://www.magbaztravels.com/content/view/1987/494/
http://www.magbazpictures.com/camping-eco-batak.html
http://www.magbazpictures.com/batak-town--around.html

The Jeffes on the Road
The illustrated account by Martin Jeffes (of Camping Sakar Hills) which describes taking two Land Rovers from Bulgaria back to the UK (helped by son Matt) is on our website.

Drop in to Dropbox
Here's a link to 23 pictures that give some sort of idea of our recent travels.

It's Cool to be High
In June we were coolly riding at 1200 m (4,000 ft) up in the Rhodope Mountains which form the long border between Bulgaria and Greece. Since we left the UK at the End of May – and thank goodness for that in both senses - we have combined cycling with using the motorhome to base ourselves in what has now reached 11 countries.

How good it is just to be in the far southeast corner of this Europe which the UK might soon be forced to leave, as if that were ever possible! But how sad it is to find our country so ridiculed and mocked by our fellow Europeans. Johnson is already providing more opportunities for humour, mixed with amazement that we are reduced to this fiasco. We have met and talked to Dutch, German, Austrian, Slovenian, Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Greek, Turkish, Romanian and Hungarian citizens (with more to come), and many can still not believe what is happening in a country they used to admire. Johnson, once he is in power and surrounded by his cronies, might provide the wake-up call that the people of England (at least those with an IQ of 100 or more) need in order to begin to act. How can people be so complacent now that the circus hasn't just come to town for entertainment; it's actually taken over control!

Soon after May took control of the country and installed her fellow travellers in positions of power, we wrote that the lunatics have taken over the asylum. Words now fail us (and would have failed Niccolo Machiavelli himself) in all our attempts to describe what is happening now following Boris Johnson's takeover. For parallels, we have to return Germany in the last days of the Weimar Republic (1918-1933), very well described in this excellent article from a German source.

Opposition?
Corbyn deserves only a blank space, which sadly is what he now is.

On the Level
Greetings from a sunny and very flat Hungary with its vast areas of farm and grazing lands called the puszta (plain or prairie). It's some 20,000 square miles in area (more than half the country) and something of a contrast to the hills and mountains in which we have been cycling. But we are not here for long and will soon have motorhomed across Slovakia and Poland into the Baltic Republics for more varied riding.

Electrified and Electrifying Bicycles
The new bikes are in very good shape after their service with Paul Hewitt in Leyland in May. They have now reached 3,500 km (2,200 miles) with no problems of any kind, despite being ridden almost entirely in hilly or mountainous country often on back-country lanes and tracks. In England we revisited old favourite rides on the North Yorkshire Moors including Bransdale, Farndale, Rosedale, Newtondale, Staindale, Eskdale, the abbeys of Rievaulx and Byland and the White Horse of Kilburn (up to which we rode, continuing to the top of Sutton Bank). Highlights included riding the lengthy 1 in 3 climb between Egton Bridge and Egton, followed by a 1 in 4 downhill plunge (thanks to hydraulic disk brakes). In Germany we cycled sections of the Danube cycle way and in Slovenia we rode along the river Drava near Maribor. However, the highlights have been among the 17 days of cycling in Bulgaria, including an 8-day, 7-hotel ride in the borderlands of Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece with an emphasis on the magnificent roads, people and places in the Rhodope mountains.

Coming to a Halt
We've been extra careful with the smooth but powerful Shimano hydraulic disk brakes on the new e-bikes after wearing the pads down to the metal in the mountains of the Greek Peloponnese earlier in the year. Following Paul Hewitt's thorough service, we now favour the front brake where possible, since that has pads which are the easiest to replace!

Change of Gear
We are particularly grateful for Dan's skill (Paul Hewitt's mechanic) in using the computer to adjust the electronically shifted hub gears which now change smoothly and easily. Replacing the original 18-tooth cog with the 21 has also been a great improvement enabling the full 11-hubgear range to be used.

Baggage
If there is a negative with the e-bikes it is their limited ability to carry more than two pannier bags (we were used to a maximum of 5 each on the old bikes) and only one small (½ litre) water bottle. We did of course carry more bottles in our pannier bags when the Bulgarian temperature stayed in the mid and upper 30's for many days! Thankfully, every Balkan village has a welcoming if basic bar/café with its all-male customer base.

Fellow Riders
It's not unusual to meet groups of motorcyclists on campsites, most commonly with small tents. Recently on a campsite near the Romanian/Hungarian border we met two young motorcyclists from Slovakia. They had two tents, but one of them was for one of the motorbikes and they shared the other! We find that there is a good rapport between cyclists and motorcyclists, on campsites or out on the road, even with the hairiest of Hell's Angels types with bandanas and wide handlebars!

Lost in False Consciousness
Neurosis is on the rise as people fight against reason; blinded by deep-seated and destructive emotions buried in the dark recesses of what passes for the mind. It's quite scary to think that people can so lose (or perhaps never had) contact with reality, with little self-awareness and lost in a false consciousness that only appears to be functional. What a nightmare. It raises all kinds of questions including ones about the sort of social conditioning that allows or forces people to live out their lives purely on its surface. Acting out given roles with all else being inhibited and blocked in unnoticed ways.

Social Actors
Perhaps the rewards go to the most proficient social actors; something that is relatively easy in a capitalist society where roles, scripts and directions are freely available. People asked the question 'who are you?' almost always respond with a list of their given (or sometimes taken) roles, perhaps with their status within the role, within a family structure, within an occupation, within a hobby or pastime. Our experience is that when retired (which is a role in itself), the list includes or is dominated by former roles!

The Puzsta
We drove and cycled in a sunny and very flat Hungary with its vast areas of farm and grazing lands. It's called the puzsta (plain or prairie), some 20,000 square miles in area and covering more than half the country. It is something of a contrast to the hills and mountains in which we have been cycling.

To Friends who have just walked the Pennine Way
Many thanks for your email and the photographs and please accept many congratulations from us both on a great achievement. In your lives, as in ours, achievements occur as a natural consequence of what we do, but a few events are simply outstanding and defining. For us, cycling across the USA and Australia. For you, this journey walking and camping the length of the Pennines is a worthy addition to your record! Well done indeed. We envy few, if any, other people. Not least do we envy your youth, fitness and ability to quietly just do things! And then you report them in such a low-key and modest way. Long may it continue.

Life Goes On . . . and On
We continue to live and travel as usual with the motorhome and with the electrifying bikes. After a very hot month in Bulgaria, we are now heading north through Romania towards Hungary, Slovakia and Poland aiming for more cycling in the Baltic Republics – then Finland. Ye gods willing. Someone recently had the temerity to propose in our presence that the electric motors made cycling 'easier'; in fact, for the same effort, they make cycling more enjoyable, more wide-ranging and more engaged with hills and mountains. And three times more likely to happen at all (according to some research findings and our own experience).

The Fagaras
Arriving in Romania yesterday, we are camped on the northern edge of the Fagaras Mountains which are part of the 930-mile long Carpathian Mountains. The Fagaras are about 50 miles wide and 25 miles deep, rising to 2540 m. Just one road crosses them, the Transfagaras Highway, starting from near where we are now, heading south and rising from our 400 m to about 2240 m. This is a climb of 1840 m and likely to flatten any bicycle battery, so we may see how far we can get.
 
Planting the First Tree
There is so much emphasis now on tree-planting as an antidote to the climate crisis that our friends on a Scottish croft should be awarded some sort of medal. Perhaps the Noble Order of Carbon Dioxide Reduction. Apparently, a forest the size of the USA as it grew and matured could absorb and store two-thirds of the 300 billion tonnes of extra carbon added to the atmosphere since the industrial revolution began. And then what happens after maturity? But we do know that every journey begins with the first step, however small and hesitant.
 
To the Owner of Camping Batak in the Bulgarian Rhodope Mountains
It was good to meet you and spend a few days on Lake Batak back in June. What a lovely climate you have up there! We have now published our review of your campsite. There are also 44 photographs of the campsite on our other website and 36 photographs of Batak town and the Kartela Pass that we cycled.

To the Owners of Camping Veliko Tarnovo in the North of Bulgaria
First and foremost, we must thank you most fully and sincerely for the welcome you extended to us on our short visit to your home and your campsite. The Ultimate Balkan Campsite. We appreciated the conversation above all else; it fulfilled an appetite that builds up after weeks and months on the road. The best conversation so far this year and a standard by which to measure any competitors in the days to come!

From Bulgaria to Central Romania
We drove to the Oude Wilg (Old Willow) campsite in one day: some 290 miles on variable roads, crossing the Danube border on the Friendship Bridge, with enough cars on the road at times around Brasov to produce self-forming queues; something not seen since the German autobahns or the M62 past Manchester!

The Old Willow Grows
The campsite has increased in size with some new facilities since our last visit and the 3-km link from the main road to the village has been made good. Tudor has graduated and is now a full-time teacher in the village junior school where he formerly assisted with the art lessons, so they have (very regrettably) stopped providing what were excellent and innovative meals cooked by him. Carta village has also had all its roads improved with well-laid setts and the houses largely refurbished in their original Saxon style. So German is the key language and we don't mention that we English are also Anglo-Saxons!

En Route to Oude Wilg
On our way we spent some time in Shipka to visit the gold-domed Memorial Church and the nearby recently refurbished and re-opened 4^thC BC Thracian tomb of Seuthes the Third, one of several such tombs in the Valley of the Thracian Kings. Splendid. This was the day after the engine battery died a sudden and complete death, to be revived by a transplant at the Ford garage in Stara Zagora (carried there hanging off the back of a breakdown truck).

The Cyclists' Nirvana
For 19 days we stayed at a familiar campsite (Sakar Hills) down in the far southeast corner of Bulgaria, owned and run by the English family Jeffes who have become good friends. The quiet lanes and villages are ideal for cycling once we acclimatised to the heat (consistently over 35 deg C). We cycled on 15 of those days, including an 8-day, 7-hotel ride criss-crossing the borderlands of Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece with an emphasis on the magnificent roads, people and places in the Rhodope Mountains. The new e-bikes are a great success, having now covered over 3,500 km (including also the roads and cycle paths of Holland, Yorkshire, Germany, and Slovenia).

Reply to query about Motorhome Insurance for Non-UK Residents
We don't have any information on the success of claims by motorhomers who are non-UK residents although some do pretend to live at the address of a UK relative or friend. It could of course lead to problems with a claim, but travel does involve risk. Fully insured for most of Europe, we still have to buy short-term insurance at the border for non-EU countries such as Albania, Macedonia or Montenegro. This allows us to drive on their roads but I doubt they'd be worth the paper they are written on if we made a claim! And if Britain is stupid enough to leave the EU, we will all have even more problems.

June 2019 (Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey)

Thanks to Martin Jeffes
In all our cycling, walking and motorhoming in southeast Bulgaria, we became more deeply aware of the debt we owe you as our teacher, with us as your pupils sitting attentively in the Land Rover on many a journey of Thracian, Roman and Bulgarian exploration. Regrettably not all these experiences were captured by camera, but we have collected what we have on a page in our website.

First Visit to Bulgarian Camping Sakar Hills
There have been so many memories since our first arrival at Sakar Hills on Sunday 29 June 2008 after a 3-month, 3,700-mile circumnavigation of Turkey. Waiting for us were new forks for Margaret's bicycle sent from the UK, the originals having been bent when the motorhome was reversed into a wall in the dark (by whom?). Surprised and delighted with the safe arrival of the package, as with everything else, we stayed until Monday 29 September 2008 – three full months which we summarise on our website. Unlike our visit, that article comes to an abrupt and inexplicable ending! Perhaps we were lost for words …

Reply to query on Where to Leave a Motorhome in Greece
You can leave a motorhome at the airport in Athens or Thessaloniki, though it would be expensive long-term. A better solution would be to leave it parked on one of the open-all-year campsites in the Peloponnese (see list on our website) and then travel to the airport by bus. We would suggest Ionion Beach Camping at Glifa, which has storage facilities, or Camping Triton II near Nafplio. You may find other possibilities when you tour Greece in the autumn. Athens Camping would also store it, but they do charge a lot. You need to visit or contact a few sites.

May 2019 (England, Netherlands, Germany, Austria)

Margaret writes the First Email on a New Machine
Margaret's elderly Dell laptop crashed in early April, with no chance of repair or replacement in the deep south of the Peloponnese. We've just replaced it at PC World in Newark and you have the honour of receiving the first email written on it, after the unnecessarily lengthy assimilation procedure invented and demanded by Microsoft!

In Newark
Now we're at Brownhills, from where we in 2014 we bought second-hand our current Carado Motorhome. When passing along the A1, we always enjoy their club members-only free overnight parking with electric hook-up, toilets, showers, kitchen, WiFi and indoor swimming pool. For non-members as well, there is also a good accessory shop, bistro café and courtesy bus into Newark. Our next stop is visiting friends near Cambridge, then back to the Mainland and points north and east before the End of May (we can only hope), making the most of freedom to roam while we may.

On Barry's Birthday
Today is also VE day (Victory in Europe day - I remember it well) and a national holiday in France, as in other countries on the mainland. It seems that in the squalor of the Brexit fiasco we have forgotten the time when sensible Europeans worked together to suppress extreme nationalism and fascism. Now it's on the rise again, celebrated in our rubbish newspapers.

April 2019 (Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, England)

Another Year Circling the Sun
On Margaret's birthday we were camped in Methoni (the little port at the foot of the Peloponnese where we were married). We cycled over the hills to Finikounda for coffee and a bite, collected a chocolate gateau from Methoni bakery on the way back, and had an evening meal in the town's best Taverna, where we had dined with friends after the wedding.

Birthday Present for Two
Our mutual birthday (as well as Christmas) present were the new e-bikes, which have now each covered 1,200 miles, including a 30-mile ride to the top of the Langada Pass starting from Sparta, a climb of 4,000 ft: an exhilarating experience in both directions and a good test of the hydraulic disk brakes on the descent!

To Paul Hewitt Cycles
To reach Leyland (last December) it was 1,625 miles by road plus two overnight ferries (perhaps another 500 miles) from where we were staying in the southern Greek Peloponnese, but it was worth every mile. Your skill, your equipment and your service are beyond compare in our joint 102 years as cyclists. If that weren't enough (which it is), you add the personal interest and the friendliness which makes every visit a pleasure. You answer fully and helpfully when questions are asked by email, by phone or when we meet, and you don't hesitate to demonstrate techniques we need for adjustment or repair when needed.

Something of the History of our Paul Hewitt Bicycles
For many years in the early part of this century Paul Hewitt serviced our touring bicycles, during which time we made two round-the-world journeys. In 2007 he built and subsequently maintained for us a pair of his Cheviot touring bicycles to an exact and comfortable fit over many varied miles. Just before Christmas 2018, he enabled us to make the transition to Volt Infinity e-bikes with the Shimano STEPS, ideal for riding in mountainous country. On all these bicycles the wheels remained true, punctures were few, stability was constant, reliability was total and every mile on the road added to the pleasure we take in world-wide cycling and travel in retirement. Click here for more information and pictures.

In the Hooge Veluwe
On the way back the UK we paused over Easter in our favourite part of the Netherlands, which itself shared the record high temperatures of the UK. The Hooge Veluwe National Park near Arnhem is an extensive state forest, originally planted to stabilise Europe's largest area of sand drift and stocked with deer and wild boar for royal hunting parties. There are no canals or windmills, just dozens of different cycling paths gently rolling through dry heath and woodland in all directions – the bicycles have no need for power assistance other than that which we willingly supply.

After the Hooge Veluwe
We've just enjoyed two days cycling a total of some 80 miles on a tiny fraction of the vast network of cycle paths which define the highly civilised country of the Netherlands. Having also driven a total of 930 miles west from the Italian port of Ancona, today we drive a further 160 miles south to the port of Zeebrugge in Belgium from where the evening P&O ferry will take us overnight to a morning arrival in that tourist hub also known by the abbreviation 'Hull'.

On Hearing about the Passing of the Founder of TaylorMade Covers
We were both really sorry to learn of the passing of Eddie; we have very happy memories of meeting him and the service he gave when we called at Stoney Lane for TaylorMade screen covers and bike covers for the two American RV's (Four Winds and Fleetwood Flair) which we owned in the earlier years of our travels. He was a fine man and must be very much missed by his family (his wife and daughter carry on the business), his friends and his customers.

Great Minds Think Alike
It's good to receive shared thoughts which resonate with ours. We all need to plunge further into what Brexit is really all about and what lies (!!) behind the Tory zeal for power and control, and on whose behalf they perform with such enthusiasm. Would that our two-sided politics had at least some signs of opposing ideas, policies, proposals, values or even energy. It's a real torment to see Corbyn and his mates now actually colluding with May in her obsessive desire to get us out of the EU.

To an American Friend on our Two Country's 'Leadership'
The Petition (Revoke Article 50 and Stay in the EU) reached over 6 million votes and is hopefully a factor in the current round of indecision (it was ignored). We think our government is neck-and-neck with yours in the unbelievably insane contest, but Theresa May may win for sheer incompetence. Though we did enjoy a recent video of your President twice repeating 'oranges' when he meant 'origins'! Can he read?

Keeping Sane in a Crazy World
Meanwhile we are thankful above all for our continuing good health and are treasuring the freedom to roam Europe while we may. We have now ridden our new power-assisted Volt bikes over 1600 km (1,000 miles) on the wonderfully quiet mountain roads of the Greek Peloponnese in Spring sunshine with the fields, roadsides and orchards full of flowers. Ideal cycling among friendly people and a welcoming kafenion (café/bar) in almost every village.

To a Sheep Farming Friend in New Zealand
It's good to hear from you. We thought of you and yours when we heard the shocking news of the dreadful massacre in Christchurch. New Zealand always seemed such a peaceful land, so remote from the man-made problems of Europe, the USA and the Middle East, with the only possible threat a natural disaster like the Christchurch earthquake. As for Brexit, we just can't believe what has happened, and is still happening. Our leaders have easily won the competition to be more useless than Donald Trump!

To a Friend Attempting to Live an Eco-friendly Life in County Cork
We thought of you when reading the article below and wonder if you have come across Mark Boyle and his book. He describes the trade-off we know well, between the alternatives of living in comfort or being fully alive. In our different ways, both you and we are striving towards the latter.

To Paul Hewitt on Changing Gear
I am finding the gearing on my bike too high - of the 11 gears I am using 9 rarely and 10 and 11 not at all. On the other hand, I would like a lower gear at 1 and 2 for hill climbing - not least to reduce the use of the motor/battery. The rear sprocket is 18 teeth and it could be replaced with an Alfine 20 (Margaret's bike is a 20), or there is perhaps the possibility of 21 or 22 teeth using a Nexus sprocket. Please see this article.

'A Deal that Delivers and Honours the Will of the British People'
What rubbish is that? The foreigners we meet (and we are surrounded by them) think that our country has completely lost its way – or perhaps it has only just realised that it never did have a way that made any sense. For a long time we have been structured to be important in a world that no longer exists, using undemocratic powers which have existed since the time of Henry VIII.

Going Downhill
The bicycles are excellent but the brakes have taken some punishment on the downhill side of climbs in the Greek mountains typically of 1,500-2,000 ft with a maximum of 4,000 ft (climbing mostly in Eco mode). We have yet to find a Greek bike shop we can trust to give the bikes a good service, check and replace brake pads and fix the continuing problem with the rear disk brake on my bike.

Far Enough?
We are still in Greece, enjoying being here in the Spring, riding our bikes, moving the motorhome from place to place now and then, and happy to follow events in the UK from across two seas and the width of the European Union. If we wanted to get further away, we would have to go east into Turkey or south into Libya!

March 2019 (Greece)

A Typical Ride in the Peloponnese
We cycled up to Mistraki last week from Methoni and had a good onward ride from there, down through Filanthi and Nea Koroni, back uphill to Homatero and Kaplani, then swooping down to Finikounda and back to Methoni. Two hours of lovely quiet roads and spring flowers: a favourite time of year in a favourite area.

Carrying the Word
The gift we took for Helen (a Nigerian living in a small remote Peloponnese village) was a Bible in English, French and German, recently acquired at the Melivoia Hotel in Hora (near Nestor's Palace) where we'd spent the night during a two-day 130-km cycle tour from Finikounda.

Passing from Kalamata to Sparta
Driving the motorhome over to Sparta, the Langada Pass was passable, albeit crumbling down to a single lane in places. We were surprised to find the Tourist Café at the top now open 'all day, every day', so we aim to ride up to it from Sparta for lunch. It's one of the great cycle climbs in Greece, almost 4,000 ft of climbing with the road virtually empty of traffic and now clear of snow.

Hopeful
To slightly paraphrase Donald Tusk, clutching our freshly-printed Motorhome Insurance Green Card we are “prepared for the worst, but hope for the best. As you know, hope dies last.”

On the Up
The new e-bikes are a huge success after well over 1,000 km and (cliché alert) we wish we'd done it years ago. Cycling in this part of Greece, all roads lead up into the hills and the average climb on a day ride is over 2,000 feet. We still prefer drop handlebars, allowing different hand positions and a less upright riding position, but it would be difficult to go back to the unpowered tourers now! The new bikes roll smoothly, for the most part without power, and climb with assistance when it's applied at one of three chosen levels. The hydraulic disk brakes are a huge improvement on fast descents. Click here for the fuller story.

Margaret's First Electric Ride
On her first outing, along a 5-mile cycle/footpath from the campsite at Igoumenitsa into the town, Margaret was knocked over by a feral mixed infant on a fairy cycle coming at her on the wrong side of the track, watched by his proud Papa: 'That's my boy, he'll make a great Greek driver'. Father and son learnt some new English words, and Margaret learnt exactly where the new brake levers are for future emergency stops.

18 Post-Brexit Problems for Travellers on the Roads on Europe
We wrote the following after receiving a predictable reaction from an ill-informed supporter of leaving the EU, who also lives at and manages a campsite in Portugal!
“We have compiled and circulated an article on 'Post-Brexit Problems for the Traveller'. It is a well-researched objective piece: a list of 18 facts based on information and advice from reliable sources. These include the financial journalist Martin Lewis of Money Saving Expert (known as 'the most trusted man in Britain') and the BBC. We also give useful links to government and post office websites. How can this be described as one-sided blinkered propaganda??

We imagined that this article would be of immediate interest to your regular customers and current campers from the UK, and you are welcome to copy it round. You can easily omit the penultimate paragraph, the only one expressing our own views (which we are entitled to give, on our own website). On the other hand, if you have written your own hints and tips to help your customers, or other ex-pats, through the current uncertainty we would be pleased to add an article under your name to our website.

Our piece has already been read by hundreds of travellers and yours is the only negative response. Many readers have replied in similar terms to those expressed in an email just in from motorhomers Rick and Kathy (who travel widely in Europe): 'We appreciate all the time and research that went into this analysis. There's going to be a very strong reality check soon. Take care; we are very glad to be on your mailing list.”

What Caused the Mess?
As for the contemporary Brexit mess, it's best to understand it as the inevitable result of living in probably the least democratic country in the developed world. An unreformed land-owning aristocracy with vast inherited wealth  is coupled with the uncontrolled excesses of advanced capitalism, leading to false consciousness in generations of 'subjects' created and manipulated by a highly integrated ideological and repressive social and economic apparatus.

For example, 1% of the population own 50% of the land and 600 aristocratic families doubled their wealth in the last 10 years while average wages fell.

The Apparatus, Ideological and Repressive
You have to live outside the UK and visit it only occasionally to feel the sheer weight of the ideological apparatus – the religion (false belief structures), the family, the media in all its forms, the education system, the class system, the so-called 'health' system, false history, the dominance of 'finance', 'deals', the alienation of the individual from their true nature, endless competitiveness, commodification, people hiding behind 'brands' and ultimately, when all else fails, there is the repressive legal system, the associated police force (which is also the prosecutor) and (when needed) the armed forces. On top of all this is a political structure that, like the best games, has only two sides, rather like a public-school debating society. Who stands a chance of contacting the complexities of reality?

Life on a Greek Campsite in Winter
This campsite is empty except for us and twin cats: the camp is probably closed but the owner Nikos has left the WiFi on (most of the time) and given us a link to his mains supply (OK up to about 1.3 kW). All in return for a few rupees (this is the general term for any foreign money in the form of cash, with no questions asked or answers or receipts given). We are on the edge of the sea, the sun shines and spring flowers are springing up along the many quiet roads we cycle up into the hills. What more is there? For more, read our Winter Campsite Brochure.

Cats as Neighbours
Here are some pictures of our neighbours who are happy to join us in a temporary co-dependent relationship. We provide food, in return for which we may stroke them! Please note that we do not have to cut the grass – and neither does anyone else.

February 2019 (Greece)

Reply to a Quibble about Motorhome Insurance
We are motorhomers, well into retirement and maintaining a free non-commercial website as a hobby and as a service to fellow travellers. We are not insurance agents and there is no way that we can be expected to keep all the lists of information on our website right up to date. The list of 33 motorhome insurers we compiled was correct at the date quoted at the top (September 2016) and it is up to our readers to use the contact details to check out the insurers for themselves. In any case, much of this information is likely to change post-Brexit and even the insurers do not yet know what will happen. We will have much bigger problems then than the occasional out-of-date detail.

Developments at Ionion Beach, Greece's Best Campsite
Back at Ionion Beach for a little while, we were parked on our favourite sea-front pitch until it got very stormy yesterday, so we've retreated to shelter behind the (closed) restaurant until it settles down again. It's not cold, but wet and windy.

The site is very quiet, just Heidi & Kurt and Monika & Walter as usual, and a couple of other Austro-Germans. The Fligos family are all here although the brothers George and Theo now operate the two halves (campsite and hotel/apartments) quite separately, and both seem to be thriving.

Theo's eldest daughter, Anna, hopes to start at University in Athens this year, studying business and economics, so she'll be an asset one day! George has just had a huge storage shed built, along the lane, for indoor storage of caravans, motorhomes and boats, with a camper-service area outside for washing vehicles, filling water, etc! He aims to get all the unoccupied caravans tidied away inside it (for a fee) or have them removed, which will make a lot more pitches available. Every year that we come, there is something new. Perhaps a petrol station next?!

Riding Out from Ionion Beach
As for us, we keep on keeping on and can't imagine settling down, though the future is uncertain with the Brexit fiasco. In the meantime, we're really enjoying introducing the new bikes to the hills round here, riding up to Chlemoutsi Castle with ease! We only use the power-assist on steep climbs and feel 10 years younger. Whether we'll live 10 years longer is in the hands of the motorists we meet!

The Opposite of Ionion Beach
Our current base, Camping Methoni, is the complete opposite to Ionion Beach! Previously closed in winter, it is now undergoing some long overdue refurbishment, so the manager will let people on (all two of us) for €10 a night, including electricity and WiFi. The facilities are just about bearable, the water only hot when the sun shines, but it's in a super location right by the shore with a view of the castle, and a short walk from the shops and tavernas and the little town hall where we were married. We have come down here to introduce our new Volt Shimano bikes to the hills, which they love. We cycled to Finikounda yesterday and found it depressingly deserted. Just a few vans overwintering on Camping Thines but most businesses closed. Methoni is a bigger village, with post office, supermarket, bank machine, hairdresser and a very good dentist called Zoe, who also runs the local cat-feeding charity.

Refuge from the 3-Month Schengen Visa
The situation with Brexit is indeed a nightmare. Nobody can say what will happen, especially those in charge of our country. There are six EU members that have not joined the Schengen Zone: Ireland and United Kingdom still maintain opt-outs, but Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Cyprus are required to join and are seeking to do so soon. Thailand would be OK, or my choice would be Turkey. But there are many other problems facing travellers. See Barry's pieces 'Fifty Ways to Leave your Lovely EU' and 'The Pleasures of Travel Post-Brexit' in Looking Out 2019.

Beginner's Guide to Greek Campsites
Greece is our favourite European country (except in high summer) and we have written many articles on the subject including our thorough and popular listing of 33 campsites open all year in Greece. Among those we recommend are Ionion Beach (about 50 miles south of Patras) above all, followed by Triton II near Nafplio and the Camperstop Aphrodite's Waters near Ancient Corinth.  

We also have a very good list of 55 Camper Stops listed anti-clockwise wound the Peloponnese with 15 more in the north of the Greek mainland.

For an amusing take on Greek Campsite life in winter (based on Camping Aginara and others), read Kamping Karpouzi and/or the Winter Campsite Brochure (loosely based on our long-suffering experience of Camping Finikes).

We can't tell you what to see in Greece without knowing how long you will spend here and more about your interests: Ancient Sites/Museums, Castles, Mountains, Bird Watching, Beaches, Waterfalls, Walking, Cycling etc. Have a look at the Lonely Planet guide or similar to help with the selection. Most campers land at Patras and take an anticlockwise tour of the Peloponnese. With more time, include northern Greece and leave from Igoumenitsa.

Ferry to Greece in Winter
We find the best ferry deal in winter (when 'Camping on Board' is not allowed by ANEK/Superfast) is Minoan Lines 'Camping All Inclusive' from Ancona or Venice to Igoumenitsa or Patras. The Minoan deal includes a 2-berth cabin, a place on the vehicle deck for the motorhome with electric hookup (for the fridge), and a meal discount voucher - and you can book an open-date return.

Greek Dogs
There are stray dogs aplenty here in Greece, but they are hardly 'wild' – usually very sad creatures, more afraid of us than we are of them. Occasionally a dog will bark and chase when we're cycling (for which we each carry a Dog Dazer, available from Amazon). If a dog approaches when out walking, it is soon deterred by picking up and aiming a stone. If you're worried, carry a stick. We've never had a problem with a pack of dogs, even riding our bikes up in the mountains.

Life on the road is not exactly relaxing, but it is enthralling, absorbing, exciting – we never have a day off! The pace varies a lot and it was a sudden decision to drive back to England in 4 days to collect the new bikes – a journey that usually takes us weeks or months.

Home Alone

We love Greece in all its aspects, including its weather. We also like being on an empty campsite, or indeed a series of empty campsites, so we don't want to encourage too many people to come here, although we do detect a few German refugees arriving this year from Spain, which is said to be 'full'. Two years ago we squeezed onto a crammed seaside campsite on a Spanish Costa, then fled inland after one night!

Whether Greek Weather Compares
The weather depends on which bit of Greece you are comparing with which bit of Spain. In Greece it does snow in the mountains and in the far north along the border with Albania, Macedonia and Bulgaria, so not like the Costa del Sol. Here in the peaceful Peloponnese it's lovely along the southern coast with only occasional wind and rain (sometimes carrying sand from Libya), so not like the quiet cold interior of Spain and Portugal.

Init, Like
We worry that sounds are being slowly erased from spoken English: the 'g' in the endin- 'ing', the 't' in almost any word that has the temiri-y to have one or two t's inside it. And so on. As the used alphabet shrinks in size, we will eventually be reduced to grunts, body language and emojis.

Money as Illusion
It's sad that money has been reduced to mere numbers on a screen or the card that doesn't even make contact. It used to be a merry jingle in the pocket or the purse, as the case may be.

Keeping it Simple
The weather here is warm enough for the time of year with some heat already in the sun when it appears, but it is also the time when rain will fall if it is going to. Which it is. The rain soaks into the ground finding crevices in the limestone, to be pumped back up later in the year to irrigate the orchards and olive groves. How simple and basic the cycle of life can be!

Assistance from Shimano
The electric motor on our Volt Shimano bikes helps to turn the cranks but it doesn't start work until the cranks are first turned by the cyclist and the harder the cyclist pedals, the more power the motor provides. The motor's power can be selected from 5 levels: Off, Walking, Eco, Normal or High, although by EU/UK law, the motor is limited to a maximum of 250 Watts (one third of a horsepower) and it cuts out automatically above a road speed of 15.5 mph (25 km/h).

Eightpennyworth
After our first 250 miles (400 km) on the bicycles in Greece with 8,000 ft (2400 m) climbed on 14 hills, we have recharged the half-used batteries only twice (equivalent to one full charge). Rated at 408 Watt-hours, this is about half a kilowatt hour (cost 8 pence in the UK) for each bicycle. 'Eco' used only on hill climbs gives a small flow of energy that transforms our riding, giving a greater range, wider scope and more enjoyment.

The Electric Cycling Paradox
Rather than waiting to get fit before tackling long strenuous rides, we get fit while undertaking even longer more strenuous journeys! The paradox (a good Greek word) is that the presence of the motor and battery is an incentive not to use it, or to do so for the least time on the lowest setting.

January 2019 (Greece)

Other writing on MagBazTravels in January include:

MagBazTravels in 2018
Brexit, the EU and Cycling
Volt Shimano STEPS Electric Bikes
Greece-UK-Greece Express

And on MagBazPictures in January

Welcoming Cats in Igoumenitsa
The Ferry Port of Igoumenitsa
Wave Blessing in Igoumenitsa
The Overnight Crossing of the Adriatic

Seasons within Reason
As for Greece, we love being here off-season, it is by far our favourite European country – for the climate, the scenery, the opportunities to walk and cycle (everywhere) and perhaps most of all for the people who have found a way of living within their family, within their means (however little), within the seasons and within reason.

What Does it Mean to be Greek?
The last few days have seen increasingly enjoyable bike rides in almost perfect cycling weather in this enigmatic land that goes under the name of once mighty Greece; but to call Greeks 'Greek' would be like calling Italians 'Romans'. Greece was occupied for over 2,000 years, emerging as a Balkan country above all else with strong elements of Slav in its DNA, mixed in with an equally strong Turkish cultural influence. Greek everything (dancing, music, coffee, food, etc) is largely Turkish, as are many of its words: ironically what it calls 'Lakoumi' is just a copy of Turkish Delight!

Where Lies the Responsibility
This is the response to a request not to be included in our circulation list: “We regret to write that we cannot take responsibility for what you read; we always write with the assumption that readers must decide for themselves what information, if any, they allow to pass into their brains (if . . . ). After all, the delete button is always within reach if a different well-argued viewpoint impinges on and perhaps even disturbs long-held superstitions or beliefs. You can always block out the facts for yourself, though it won't alter them.”

Keeping a Balance Amid Chaos
Chaos mounts in the vain hope of discovering what it was that 26% of the population of the UK (32% of those who were eligible to vote) actually voted for in the Referendum on Thursday 23 June 2016. Somehow, this absurdity of trying to balance informed argument with sheer ignorance is matched by arguments about cycling in the UK and on the mainland.

Comprehensive Travel
Paul and Sheila Barker's website Travels in a VW Camper 2004 - 2018 is by far the most comprehensive, fully-researched and literate of any account of travels in the seventeen European countries they have visited so far. In addition to the day-by-day narrative, there are splendid photographs, a thorough account of local flora and fauna, maps and detailed reviews of campsites and other overnight locations for the motorhome.

Shared Opinions
Paul and Sheila write: “As liberal-minded socialists, we doubtless share with you feelings about the unspeakably incompetent, corrupt clowning of the Tory establishment, and the unforgivable non-governing of the country in favour of childlike squabbling; we feel let down by the even greater self-destructive, self-indulgent folly of a Labour Party incapable of managing effective Opposition, let alone being trusted with governing the country; we never cease to be amazed at the indifferent, gullible, tabloid-deluded British public, obsessed by the bread and circuses of royal weddings and similar establishment-contrived distractions; and finally we are appalled by the loutish self-centred greed and absence of any courtesy, good manners and consideration for others, that has become the behavioural norm of contemporary society."

The Three G's
We met John and Sally Watson some 12 years ago in Esztergom on the River Danube in Hungary. They were cycling to India (they made it to Delhi); we had just motorhomed in from Slovakia. Their excellent website has died, but our account of the meeting is on our website. They said we were the first retired people they had ever met who had none of the three G's, namely Gardening, Grandchildren and Golf. We would now add the four B's that we also lack, namely Broad Band in the Back Bedroom!

The Dilemma of Suburban Living
How to live within the norms, games, roles, rules, rituals, mores, codes, habits, customs, etc in the suburban pseudo-middle-class sector of a class-based society – and yet still experience the fundamentals of being an evolved sensate human being. A friend summarised this enigma well when he asked why, on entering his workplace, could he not feel as he did walking through the beech woods near his Pennine home? Why indeed?

Food for Paddington
Margaret is making the year's supply of 12 jars of marmalade in 3 batches (of necessity we can only carry a relatively small pan). When we first arrived in Greece this time, we stayed near the ferry port of Igoumenitsa for a while, up by the Albanian border. It is a fruit-growing area, mainly oranges and mandarins, which were being harvested as we cycled the lanes and tracks around the orchards. In a Kafenion where we stopped for coffee and toasted cheese (Margaret had a pork souvlaki), we were given a bag of 30 freshly picked oranges by one of the customers. Great, except that then we had to cycle up to around 400 metres (1,300 ft), sharing the extra load! Now there is a good metaphor for life itself.

Both Sides of the Pennines
Not least instructive is the extent to which Margaret's upbringing on the opposite side of the country (between Blackpool and Fleetwood) was almost word-for-word the same as mine on the East Coast in Hull. Parents who read from the same script!

Brain Connections
VS Naipaul didn't know what he would write until he started doing it: he claimed his writing came from a part of his brain only accessible by writing and not by thinking or talking. Try his 'The Enigma of Arrival'.

Assurance on Insurance
As for insurance, we must admit to relying on the EHIC Card and our own good health when travelling in mainland Europe. It's a risk but the cost of annual cover is prohibitive, if indeed available at all to those of a certain age. When we travelled beyond Europe, we took out a policy with either the Cyclists Touring Club, the British Mountaineering Council or Endsleigh - but we were younger then!

Hopes for 2019
We hope that 2018 went well for you, although it's too late to change it if it didn't. The upside is that a whole new year now lies before us – preferably one that contains many fewer lies and a re-emergence of decency, truth and a concern for the greater good of the people and the country. If this could happen, we would wake up from the nightmare of Brexit to find that our collective road was leading onwards towards sanity and normalcy.

Behind the Times
The country is at least 150 years (check out 1848) behind most other developed European countries in getting rid of aristocracy, monarchism, bi-cameral politics, grotesque imbalances of power and wealth, private ownership of large estates, private education for elite groups, etc, etc. Other countries have reigned in, controlled and regulated the worst excesses of 'Anglo-Saxon' capitalism; it's this control the Brexiters fear most from the EU.

Storing Energy for the Hill Climbs
Our motorhome's two leisure batteries, each 110 Ah (over 1,000 Wh), in parallel will be capable of re-charging the bicycle's batteries through the 600 W inverter and the Shimano charger. The leisure batteries are in turn charged by the engine, when it is running, and by 120 W solar panels on the roof when the sun is shining. They are also charged when we have a mains connection, but then we don't need to use the inverter!

Waving not Charging
The 600 W inverter itself could give rise to problems since its output may not be a pure sine wave. I have yet to find out the effect, if any, this might have on the charger, its output and therefore on the bicycle battery. There is no mention of using an inverter in the Shimano STEPS manual although I guess quite a few cyclists do use inverters, particularly if they are motorhomers or caravanners.

Preparation for Travel
A 20-year-old Margaret did a course at Aix-en-Provence University as part of her degree at Durham University; the previous year she had spent time on an archaeological excavation in Xanten on the Lower Rhine in Western Germany, extending her knowledge of both the German language and Roman history (they never got much further in their quest to civilise Germany). A great preparation for a life of travel!

Travelling in Mainland Europe after Brexit
Everything depends on the nature of the 'deal'. What a horrible little word that is, rather like 'Brexit' itself. It appeals only to simple minds that need to collapse hundreds of complex interacting issues into a single 'yes' or 'no'. Thereby avoiding any thought or understanding, just a gut reaction, an emotional impulse!

Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lovely EU

• Not leaving the EU (what a relief).
• Leaving the EU but with equal rights and privileges to travel as we do now. Classified as tourists or visitors, even now we are not supposed to stay in any single EU country for more than 90 days without seeking a residency permit (France is the exception where unlimited stay is permitted). But we haven't heard of this limit being imposed, not least because it never arises as an issue if you are just a visitor and do not want to work or buy a house or re-register a vehicle. Many motorhomers spend long winters in for example Spain, Sicily or Greece (we are there right now).
• Leaving the EU with an agreed 'transition' period that would give 21 months or more during which little or nothing would change. The can kicked well down the road (don't run over it).
• Leaving the EU on similar terms to travellers from Australia, USA, Canada, New Zealand, etc. They travel visa-free throughout the EU, but are restricted within the Schengen Zone to a total of 90 days in any 180 days. And they can't have another 90 days until 180 days have elapsed since the beginning of the first 90 days. Although, again, who is counting, particularly if you cross a land border where there are no checks or controls? And separate arrangements must be made with over 20 non-Schengen European countries.
• Leaving the EU as a foreign country ('a Third Country'). Here you would need a pre-obtained visa to enter the Schengen zone and this is a quite onerous and time-consuming process. Not least you are required to prove that you have money to support yourself throughout your stay, state its purpose, etc.
• Leaving the EU without a 'deal'. We guess that would be like 4 but with extras. Better stay at home!

The Pleasures of Travel Post-Brexit
For the motorhomer, there are also concerns about recognition of driving licences (talk of needing up to four different International Driving Permits), your vehicle insurance (ouch), your breakdown cover (oh), your road tax (this avoids paying local road taxes), your private travel and health insurance, the EHIC, roaming charges for your phone, the exchange rate (it just dropped 2.5% against the euro), pet passports and quarantine, loss of Spotify, Apple Music and other cross-border internet services, increased bank charges when withdrawing cash in EU countries, etc, etc. And we already notice a loss of respect (we used to feel good about being English and hearing our language in almost universal use): at best a shaking of heads now, at worst people finding how ludicrous the Westminster antics really are!

The Back Door In and Out

We notice that there will be a back door into or out of the EU, one we have used at least 4 times in recent years (to visit a friend in Skibbereen, County Cork). That is, sail from France into the Republic of Ireland (Cherbourg to Rosslare), then cross in to Northern Ireland (no border control there!!), then a ferry to Scotland or England. Or vice versa.

How It Was in Those Days
When considering the restrictions inherent in Brexit, a sense of proportion is needed. Prior to 1990, we made a number of bicycle journeys behind what was then the Iron Curtain, where countries had very serious borders with the West and with each other. Each and every border was separated into two borders with a wide no-man's land zone between the two with ditches, electric wire, dogs, guns, patrols, searchlights, along with 5 km exclusion zones around the border with stops and checks within it. Visas had to be obtained months ahead. Sometimes US dollars in cash had to be exchanged in advance for government certificates to be exchanged on arrival for local currency at the official exchange rate. Where you could stay was limited and each place reported your presence to the local police. Shops were government-run, few in number and often empty, but the plus side was that it was safe, the roads were very quiet and people weren't just pleased to see you, they were amazed.