Escape Europe (2015 - trip to Tuscany)

[Seef]

Hi guys,

As last year, we wnet to Tuscany for our summer vacation.

The trip went great, no problems at all, beautiful weather what could you wish more for?

Picture of our camping spot nearby Cecina, camping Montescudaio, if you ever get to Tuscany, make sure to stop at this place, very roomy sites, which is a rare in Italy!

Picture of our site and one made during the trip at a stop on the highway. On the groundlevel it was 30 degrees Celcius, if you look closely you can see rhe snow on the top of the mountain.

[cpaharley2008]

Wow, love the picture of the mountain......

[escape artist]

Hi: Seef... Great to see you getting out for a rest. Do you get a lot of strange looks from campers and travelers? Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[Jim Bennett]

Nice photos. Would love to see more, Seef.

[padlin]

Is that normal truck traffic or a traffic jam?

[cpaharley2008]

looks like a rest area.....

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by padlin

Is that normal truck traffic or a traffic jam?

Hi: padlin... I don't think anywhere in the world there's "Normal truck traffic". Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[padlin]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

looks like a rest area.....

That would explain it.

[gabeck]

Haven't driven in Holland ....but can tell you that there are a lot of stretches on the autobahn where the vehicle are almost bumper to bumper ( 2 or 3 lanes ) somewhere between 130 to 200 kilometres ( or more ) an hour ......can be a bit hair raising ..... but yes that photo really looks like a rest area ....

[Mary F]

Originally Posted by Seef

Hi guys,

As last year, we wnet to Tuscany for our summer vacation.

The trip went great, no problems at all, beautiful weather what could you wish more for?

Picture of our camping spot nearby Cecina, camping Montescudaio, if you ever get to Tuscany, make sure to stop at this place, very roomy sites, which is a rare in Italy!

Picture of our site and one made during the trip at a stop on the highway. On the groundlevel it was 30 degrees Celcius, if you look closely you can see rhe snow on the top of the mountain.

Beautiful, Seef! I was in Tuscany in May, but without an RV. (I was doing good just to get myself and a teensy little suitcase there!) Some friends and I stayed at an agriturismo near Trequanda. Loved it. It would be as a dream to camp nearby. Thanks so much for sharing your pics.

[Seef]

Darn, computer got stuck, lost my reply.

This picture was taken on a resting area, you are correct. The problem nowadays is that we have a lot of new EU countries and those countries are poor.

As soon as a country is a full EU memeber it's citizens are allowed to work anywhere in the EU.

As you can imagine, poor countries have low wages. This makes it very attractive for employers to hire those guys for their trucks. BUT, they pay them only a little bit more then their normal wage which is way lower than the average wages in, lat's say Holland, Germany, Belgium etc.

Low wages mean those guys cannot afford to stay in hotels but need to stay in their trucks, which are in noway equal to the USA type of trucks in terms of luxury.

So they drive till they are on the legal limit and then they have to stay at resting areas, cook some sort of dinner next to their truck etc.

It's getting so full on those resting areas that most of them nog have digital signs several 100 meters before the resting area stating how much truck space is left for parking.

So it's not all fun and gamnes in the EU.

[Seef]

Originally Posted by gabeck

Haven't driven in Holland ....but can tell you that there are a lot of stretches on the autobahn where the vehicle are almost bumper to bumper ( 2 or 3 lanes ) somewhere between 130 to 200 kilometres ( or more ) an hour ......can be a bit hair raising ..... but yes that photo really looks like a rest area ....

In Holland the max speed is 130Km p/h. But it is very busy on the roads, we've visited the USA and Canada and even New York city was a relief to drive let alone the rural roads.

In Germany on many places there is no max speed limit so the Germans tend to drive fast on that roads. And indeed that can be hair raising.

One more difference between driving in Holland/Germany and USA is the concept of keeping your lane, that is a big nono over here. You're supposed to drive as much on the most right side lane as possible and only use other lanes for passing other cars. In my opinion this make the traffic a bit chaotic. But he, i do not know any better.

[Seef]

Originally Posted by Mary F

Beautiful, Seef! I was in Tuscany in May, but without an RV. (I was doing good just to get myself and a teensy little suitcase there!) Some friends and I stayed at an agriturismo near Trequanda. Loved it. It would be as a dream to camp nearby. Thanks so much for sharing your pics.

Ahh, beautiful country over there, about a 2-3 hour drive from the place we stayed. Agriturismo is a great way to visit Italy.

[Seef]

Originally Posted by escape artist

Hi: Seef... Great to see you getting out for a rest. Do you get a lot of strange looks from campers and travelers? Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

Yep, lots of people staring at the combo (on the road). People passing us, being half way, hitting their brakes, grabbing a camera and start over passing us and taking pictures.

People on campsites walking by and returning the same day or the next being interested in the combo. Men tend to be interested in the technical part of it (coupler, the 5th wheel concept), women all want to see the interior.

We do have a lot of visitors in the evening, no problem, we tend to keep up our stock of beer.

[Seef]

Okidoki, some more pictures of the resting area, well not of the resting area it self but more ore less a 360 degree view of the surroundings....

Will post some more pictures of Tuscany but they do not have the Escape on it.

[Seef]

First picture: View on Cassale Maritimo
2nd picture: Typical street in Castagneto di Carducci. Mind you, this is not a museum but a normal functionong village.
3rd picture: the roads have sometimes a sort of a pothole. We have seen such problems more then once and does not always gets repaired within 1 year.
4th picture: view from Castagneto di Carducci towards the ocean.

If you want more, let me know.

[Dave Walter]

Awesome pictures. How did you ever get your Escape 5.0 through those narrow streets in your second photo?

[Seef]

Originally Posted by ice-breaker

Awesome pictures. How did you ever get your Escape 5.0 through those narrow streets in your second photo?

We didn't. There is no way you can get your Escape through those narrow streets. The TV won't even fit. Their are roads around the villages which can accommodate Trucks and so on.

Common thing to do is park your car outside the villages on parking places ment for citizens and visitors/tourists. Only few citizins of those tiny villages have the luxury of parking the cars in front of their houses.

[Slickheadhunter]

Awesome pictures Seef!
I bet your one of a very few people with an escape in Europe!

[tractors1]

Originally Posted by Slickheadhunter

Awesome pictures Seef!
I bet your one of a very few people with an escape in Europe!

He's the only one. ETI had to rescale the owners map just to get him in!