The prime purpose of our drive was to take most of our essential items to our house in Crete in preparation for our forthcoming permanent move. This journey was to be the first of two we would make for that purpose. It would also serve as a Christmas holiday.

It took us several days to pack the car. We took the rear seats out of our diesel Peugeot 307 Station Wagon and put a 560 litre roof box on to provide maximum space. However we were well aware that weight would be an issue and so we weighed everything we put in to ensure that we did not exceed the maximum all up weight of the vehicle (well not by too much anyway!). Many items which we had earmarked to bring had to be left in the UK due to lack of space or weight problems. Luxury items such as Christmas goodies and English foods were amongst the first things to be left behind. The definition of what was considered 'essential' was constantly being changed as space became ever more valuable! Eventually a balance was struck, the tyre pressures were increased, the vehicle was fully fuelled and we were ready to go.

We were taking a gamble with the weather at this time of year and so left ourselves more than four days for the journey through the European mainland to Ancona in Italy where we would catch our ferry. We have always treated any long journey as part of our holiday and have no time for those who tell us 'you can do it in just over a day'. if they want to risk falling asleep at the wheel that is their choice - it just is not our way!

The night before we set off had been the warmest December night in the UK for over 400 years at 12 degrees C. Cathy had to work this morning so we set off at 1.30 pm for the initial drive to the Travel Lodge hotel in Ashford Kent. We traveled via the M54, M6 Toll Road, M6, M1, M25 and M20. The total distance was 210 miles, 205 of which was on motorways. The journey should have taken about three hours. However the M1 was just one large traffic jam and the actual journey took over 5 hours. Whilst sitting in crawling traffic we had plenty of time to think about how we would not miss the UK roads. Despite being so heavily laden we were pleased to see that the Peugeot onboard computer reported that we still averaged over 40 mpg on the first leg of the journey.

We had ourselves something to eat at the local Kentucky Fried Chicken before having a coffee at the Travel Lodge and retiring early for the night

We set off at 6.40 am for the Euro tunnel terminal in Folkestone. Local temperature was already 8 degrees. Our luck with the weather was holding out. No rain, ice, snow or fog so far - great. Although we were booked on the 9.58 train we were aware that it is possible to get on an earlier train if there is space. We secured a space on the 8.30 am train which left us plenty of time to have a good quality breakfast in the terminal prior to departure.

By 10.15 French time we were off the train and had joined the Auto route system without even a sight of a French official. The temperature in France was only 2 degrees. Driving conditions were good except that we had a very strong headwind - the roof box acted as a large air brake! (Any glider pilots will understand the effect well!)

We had packed a 12 volt kettle and plenty of coffee tea. etc. So we were able to provide the majority of our own drinks on route, augmented by the occasional meal in a service area. The French service areas serve good quality food at very reasonable prices and with a smile. Our UK service area operators with their greasy, overpriced fatty food, served by people whose only qualification appears to be a degree in grumpiness, could learn a lot from the French.

At 2 pm we stopped for fuel for the first time since leaving home, some 450 miles ago - cost 54 Euros.

The fog came down as it became dark and so we stopped for the night at 5 pm at the Hotel de la Poste TIL-CHATEL just north of Dijon. We had covered 570 miles in total at this point. This was a good choice of hotel and we would definitely stop there again. After a short walk around the village and a freshen up it was time for the evening meal which was typically French - several courses, each of which could have featured on a TV cookery program plus a good bottle of wine and good company from fellow travelers (Dutch & French) and it was time for bed once again.

Having had a good breakfast we were on the road by 8.30. The temperature was down to minus 1 degree but the roads were dry. With the car as heavily laden as it was we had originally decided to stick to the French Auto route system as long as we could. However our Tom Tom Sat Nav system was insistent that the quickest way to reach the Mont Blanc Tunnel was to actually leave the Auto route some 60 miles south of Dijon and travel via Poligny and on to Geneva. After a couple of days of motorway driving we did not need much persuading and happily followed the Sat Nav instructions which took us through the High Jura and the beginning of the Alpine ranges through a couple of ski resorts as we climbed several 'cols'. The Peugeot coped admirably with the steepest of the hills although on more than one occasion there was a heart stopping thud as the suspension bottomed out on the occasional frost induced pothole! We were lucky that the weather was so kind to us as under different circumstances snow chains would have been essential. As it happened we saw plenty of snow but it was a day or two old and the roads were clear and dry. Did we save time compared with staying on the Auto routes? - no! However we enjoyed the trip more because of the diversion. Eventually we descended down to Geneva. and Switzerland. Ideally we would have joined the A40 Auto route but this would have meant purchasing a Swiss motorway Carnet for about a five minute drive through Switzerland - in fact it would have taken us longer to buy it that we would have used it for. We therefore we drove straight through the middle of Geneva. on normal roads before re-entering France. being a Saturday this was not a problem - the city was practically deserted.

We had intended to stop for a meal in Chamonix but parking proved impossible (As the car contained so many valuable possessions we were not prepared to park where we could not see it) and so we abandoned that idea and headed for the Mont Blanc Tunnel and Italy. The toll for the tunnel was 32 Euros, although a return ticket was only about 6 or 8 Euros more. The journey through the tunnel takes about 15 - 20 minutes and was uneventful. When you come out on the other side you have a choice of using the Italian motorway or descending using the old road. We chose the motorway but noticed that nearly everyone else chose the normal road. We soon found out why! Although the motorway route was fast (and inexpensive as it turned out) it has one problem. It consists of literally dozens of very long tunnels with side markers that have a strobing effect. The net effect is boredom like I have never experienced before when driving. I would estimate that there was about 1 hours worth of tunnels out of 90 minutes of driving. It proved very difficult to concentrate and the whole experience was akin to some kind of sickening torture. I would drive down the old road next time and accept the time penalty. However however bad this part of the journey was it was not the worst Italian motorway we found but more about that later!

Based upon past experiences of driving in Italy we wanted to avoid driving around Milan and so headed further south eventually ending up south of Pavia in the town of Fumo between Casteggio and Stradella south of the A21 motorway. Hotels in this 'no-tourist' part of the country were few and far between. The first hotel we stopped at was full, the second a motel, was best described as 'seedy' and so when we eventually found the hotel da Angelo (4 star) we bit the bullet on the price and booked in. At 90 Euros (B&B) it was twice what we had paid the night before in France. Admittedly the room was very good. We declined a restaurant meal in the hotel, as we wished to remain mortgage free, and instead found a local shop who made us up a picnic of four cheese and ham rolls, two yogurts, two canned drinks and some fresh fruit for only 11 Euros. We had ourselves a feast in our hotel room whilst watching CNN and BBC World TV. We had by now traveled 920 miles. Because of the diversion over the mountains our fuel consumption was down to 38 mpg for the whole trip.

When we arrived at the hotel we had asked where the best place was to park the car. The receptionist pointed to one of several covered garages and told us we could put it inside one of those. The following morning we found that such thoughtfulness had added another 10 Euros to the bill! Needless to say we would not use this hotel again.

We took full advantage of the breakfast buffet at the hotel before setting off at 8.15 on a very dull and cloudy morning with a temperature of 8 degrees. Being a quiet Sunday morning we traveled on quiet normal roads through Parma, and Modena before joining the Autostrada past Bologna, Imola and Forli. This area is very flat with mile upon mile of fruit trees and fruit juice bottling plants.

It was by now obvious that we could easily make Ancona 2 days ahead of schedule. We considered requesting a ticket change but decided against it, preferring to spend another couple of days in Italy. We therefore headed south on what initially appeared to be a motorway standard road to Rome, the E45. We are a well traveled family and have visited countries all over the world but I can put my hand on my heart and say I have never traveled on such a poor condition main road in my life. There were literally thousands of potholes, many of which were up to eight inches deep and two feet across. This road climbs continuously for about an hour and we soon entered thick fog alternating with heavy rain. Advertised speed limits ranged from 90 kph down to 20 kph and yet still the Italians were passing us at speeds which must have exceeded 100 mph. Because of the topography there was no obvious alternate route and the Tom Tom mapping we were using did not include any local roads for this area. We were looking at a screen which only showed one road - and we were on it! (Only later did we find that we had the French mapping selected as the default which only gave minimal coverage of Italy. On the return journey we discovered that we had another SD card with proper Italian mapping)

After a while it became obvious that the outside lane was in better condition than the inner lane and therefore the technique was to drive in the outside lane whenever possible, dodging potholes as necessary, and keeping a very close eye on the wing mirrors for any approaching suicidal Italian driver. (Our internal rear view mirror was unusable because the car was fully laden.) As soon as headlights appeared through the gloom it was a case of moving over very quickly before an Italian piled into the back of us. This sorry state of affairs went on for about 50 or 60 miles. Many times we considered turning back but it was obvious that the return carriageway was just as bad! We had to hope that the road eventually improved. In conversation I said to Cathy that such a road would be closed to all traffic in the UK as being totally unusable - and someone must have been listening because at that point the road was closed off and we had to follow a diversion which took us up over a col on very narrow and steep country roads for a 10 mile mystery tour. Again, despite the rain and fog, we considered ourselves lucky with the weather as everywhere there were signs threatening death and worse if you were caught at these heights without snow chains! We survived the journey and the car survived the thousand bone shaking bangs as the suspension bottomed out each time we were unable to avoid one of the potholes.

Eventually another road appeared on the Sat Nav and we were off the motorway faster than Schumacher at the start line of a Grand Prix. By accident rather than design we headed towards the town of Perugia, by now looking for somewhere to spend the night. Again hotels seemed rarer than an Italian pothole filler and so we gladly followed the signs for the Ilgo Hotel (3 star) which turned out to be a pleasant 10- 15 minute walk from the centre of town.

Again the price was 90 Euros (B&B) but we kept telling ourselves that we were on holiday and we would pay whatever it cost. The reason for the high costs in Italy seems to be that you pay per person, rather than per room.

The hotel was very pleasant and the staff very friendly and when we came back from our evening meal we booked for a second night.

My education must be sadly lacking because I had never heard of Perugia before I arrived here. Ryan Air flies direct from Stanstead to Perugia three times a week; we are not far from Tuscany here and presumably ex-pats use the Perugia airport to visit home. We walked into town and despite it being a wet Sunday evening it was alive with people. It has amazing buildings and is obviously very important in Italian history. The church in the middle of town is amongst the largest I have ever seen, and despite the fact that I do not consider myself religious we sat through a service (in Italian! I did not understand a word). All the shops were open until well after 7 pm and the Christmas market was going strong. At first there seemed to be a dirth of restaurants and then we realised that they all open at 7.30 pm. Suddenly the doors to what appeared initially to be dark alleys opened revealing hidden restaurants beyond. We had a Guinness in the Shamrock, a very small Irish Pub in the main Piazza Danti run for the last nine years by an Irish lass named Martina Dempsey. This pub is a 'must' for anyone searching for an Irish or English drink in the town. From there we went to the Ferrari restaurant in the Via Vannucci for a typical Italian meal at very reasonable rates. The starter had enough Parma ham to keep the Sainsbury delicatessen counter going for a couple of months It was served with cheese and either melon (David) or rocket (Cathy) whilst the main meal was the tagiatelle with walnuts and tomato (Cathy) or Pizza with Hot Salami (David) washed down with a bottle of Merlot.

Total mileage so far 1200

Average Fuel Consumption so far 39.8 mpg

The morning temperature was 8 degrees when we booked out of hotel at 8.15 and took the road to Assisi. Assisi was very impressive from a distance, perched on the side of a hill., Assisi is much larger than we expected. As we approached the commercialism became very apparent. On this day the road entrances to Assisi were closed, except to tourist buses who had to pay an entrance fee of 71 Euros each. We continued on our drive promising to visit when we have a whole day to do so.

The road from Perugia to Ancona is varied and provides a pleasant drive through beautiful scenery. Accommodation on this road was plentiful although we would not need it this time. The journey was only about 120 miles so we took our time and had a couple of stops. Despite some heavy rain and fairly heavy traffic we were in Ancona by 1230. Once parked up on the docks in the 'Minoan' queue it was only a 50 yard walk across a main road and we were in the town's shopping area. We spent a pleasurable hour or two looking around the markets and purchased a couple of bottles of Italian wine which somehow we managed to fit into the roof box.

The design of the ferry was akin to a multi-story car park, we drove down three floors to our parking space - however the organisation was good and the boat departed on time. The boat - The Olympia Palace was of a far higher standard than any cross channel ferry we have experienced - the staff were plentiful, polite and helpful.

The crossing was forecast to be rough! It was a little difficult to stand up for the first hour or two but then everything calmed down and the remainder of the journey was smooth.

One tip we have learnt from several years of traveling is that is false economy to try and save money by eating snacks on ferries. The costs of several drinks, a packet of crisps and a second class meal from the snack bar often equals or exceeds the cost of a proper three course meal in the 'posh' restaurant. The restaurant meal can be enjoyed at leisure, often passing away a couple of hours or more and the food is always better. The table service on the Minoan boats is second to none. We had roasted lamb with all the trimmings and wine. The portions were VERY generous and we could not fault the meal at all.

We did have problems using the wireless internet on the ship. Other passengers were also experiencing problems. It was easy to logon to the Forthnet service using access codes purchased on ship - but the service was experiencing extremely slow connections to the internet. We gave up. It was amazing to see dozens of passengers using their laptops to while away the hours. The most valuable seats on board were those next to power sockets.

The weather on Wednesday morning was sunny as we sailed amongst the islands. We arrived on schedule at Patras at 3 pm and we were efficiently offloaded and driving in Greece within 10 minutes or so. The road to Piraeus is good and fast - but beware of police speed traps. Luckily we were traveling within the limit when we had a speed gun pointed at us.

The Sat Nav told us it would take about two hours and ten minutes to drive from Patras to Piraeus and we were exactly on schedule until about ten kilometres from the port. As we turned south off the mains Athens motorway we hit rush hour traffic just as the sun set. The last 10 km took about an hour making it a three hour journey in total. We were surprised at the lack of signs to the port. Luckily an officer on the Olympia Palace, who lived near Piraeus, had given us detailed instructions on the best way to the port and we arrived there without getting lost. Once at Piraeus it was a simple matter of driving straight onto the ship without any booking in or formalities - almost like catching a bus. By half past six we were in our cabin and had two and a half hours to spare before the ship sailed.

The restaurant provided us with a perfect view of Piraeus as the ship set sail for Heraklion. During dinner we were engaged in conversation by a very pleasant and smart Greek couple sitting next to us. During our conversation we discovered that the gentleman was the financial director of Minoan lines returning from a private visit to Athens. At the end of the meal when we went to pay the waiter informed us that the bill had already been paid for by our new Greek friends - a foretaste of the typical Greek hospitality that we experienced many more times over the next couple of weeks.

An early alarm on Thursday morning saw us driving off the ship at 6.20 am into absolute chaos at Heraklion docks. The fact that it was dark and pouring with rain did not help much. The police however had the situation 'under control' and stopped all other traffic in the area whilst the boat unloaded hundreds of cars and lorries straight into one of Heraklion's busiest road junctions. Within 10 or 15 minutes we were out of town on the National road with only the occasional overturned vehicle blocking our route to Roumeli.

We arrived at our Chalet in Roumeli about 7 am. By this time the sun had come out and life was looking up. As expected the builders appeared to have put hardly any effort into completing the outstanding jobs on the house in the three months we had been away, but by now we know that this is quite typical for our particular company and so did not let it upset us too much. The company had effectively closed down for two weeks over Christmas and with no one available to discuss issues with we decided that this was going to be a holiday and 'business' could wait until out next visit.

Upon arrival at the house we discovered that I had lost my Nikon D70s Digital SLR camera on the journey. We know we had it in the hotel in Ancona as the picture above was taken on it. However phoning the hotel and even getting the Minoan office to telephone the staff on the ship failed to locate the camera. Eventually I accepted the loss and purchased a Nikon D80 as a replacement from Chania.

Life since we arrived has been hectic. We have been introduced to so many people that we cannot possible remember all their names, we have attended three dinner parties, and hosted one, eaten out more nights than in and celebrated the Greek, the Dutch and the English New Years. We have been made welcome by ex-pats and Greek villagers alike.

Purchasing fireworks for New Year was an education. On a visit to Chania we asked where to buy fireworks and we were sent to a firework shop in the centre of town. The shop had thousands of fireworks (it sold nothing else) and was absolutely packed out with customers. There were ashtrays for customers in the shop and people were smoking whilst buying and selling fireworks! Also the staff were lighting firecrackers inside the shop and then throwing them out into the street to advertise the fact that they were a firework shop. Health and Safety is not a priority in Crete! (but such attitudes and lack of respect for restrictive laws are what makes the place so fascinating). Motorcyclists spend most of their traveling time talking on the phone and you rarely, if ever, see a crash helmet being worn.

We have spent a day shopping in Heraklion, made many shopping trips to Rethymno and have visited the beach near Georgiopolis.

On New Years day we attended a celebration party in the village during which all children received a Christmas gift from Santa.

3rd January saw us driving into the hills behind the chalet and included a visit to Arkadi Monastery and Spili.