Sunday, June 23, 2013

So, How Does This Ride to London Work

The general plan, finances permitting, is to camp someplace hopefully secure overnight.  That will cost about fifteen euros each night as Euro camping is a whole lot more luxy than American places.  They are often right on the beach or have huge swimming pools or both.  Many have lots of other facilities as well.  I'm sure there are more economical ones but I haven't found one yet.

Campers always get up early and I do anyway so I'm anticipating the morning is drive time.  There are multiple reasons for that as it's cooler in the morning and therefore easier on me and easier on the scooter.  Riding in the height of the heat in the afternoon is a Very Bad Idea as I'm about as white as a Scotsman can get.  I will tan up in time but not enough to withstand full-out Mediterranean sun for prolonged periods.  After growing up in Australia I've got quite a bit of history with skin cancers and that's no big deal so long as you nick them off.  Basal cell carcinoma is not malignant and is only an annoyance but that doesn't mean it's ok to deliberately risk the worse kinds.

The afternoon is Cat time as that's when we can talk, I can upload pics and my deathless prose to the blog, and tell the story of the adventure.  From what I've seen of Internet cafes, you can hang out indefinitely so long as you buy a Coke or whatever.

Following that I will go off to find a campsite and hopefully one that offers Internet.  If it does have WiFi then I can attend shows at Cat's Art MusikCircus and possibly even perform.  I don't use any speakers or amplifiers so I make very little noise in a gig.  Maybe it's even possible to do a live remote from a cafe or some such along the way but the idea of busking is probably just a wee bit fanciful.  However, I won't rule it out as anything is possible so long as you let yourself dream it.

I do not have a GPS and I don't have any way to print a map so I will write as many notes as I can on how to get to Catania (Mount Etna) and subsequently north through Italy and France to get to England. That route bypasses the serious heights of the Alps and substantially reduces the threat of rain.

It's necessary to establish residence in England to qualify for National Health Service and it looks improbable to find a flat in London for anything affordable.  However, the hope is of finding someplace outside the city for a more reasonable rent.  London is one of the most expensive cities in the world and I really don't like living in the city anyway.  It will be very strange when people think I'm an American but I believe then I'll throw some German at them:  Möchten Sie mein krautrock hören?  (lache)  Ich bin ein Muttdog!

I'm going slow on launching as I'm full-out homeless once I roll out of here so jumping prematurely is a Very Bad Idea.  While James Corachea does quite a good song in "Leap Before You Look," this probably isn't the best time to practice that!

It's looking like Wednesday at the earliest but that's cool as I will get to catch some more shows at the Circus and possibly even play some more.

On with the adventure!

2 comments:

BeaEll said...

Hier findest Du Infos zu Londoner Campingplaetzen
http://www.visitlondon.com/de/unterkunfte/zelt/
Viel Glueck!
LG Bea

Unknown said...

Vielen Dank! Dies ist sehr hilfreich!