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During the Big Trip we've encountered people, places and things which have delighted and occasionally infuriated us.
This page is an opportunity for us to recognise the heroes and villains as well as provide a light recommendation or warning to anyone whose path crosses our fading tyre tracks.
Heroes
U.K
York - Ride the Solar System. One of the best practical science demonstrations we've ever seen.
North Ferriby - B&B@103. Friendly and handy for the Duke of Cumberland.
Belgium
Wulpen - Marcel and family who let us sleep on a spare floor for a couple of days when we needed it.
Ypres - Jeugdstadion Camping has it all; a central location, nice pitches, a bar and minigolf
Everywhere - Canal towpath maintainers
France
Iwuy - L'Atelier Culiniare, Place la Rebublique (03.27.37.87.78). Fantastic gourmet food and reasonable prices. They even serve sweaty cyclists and then scour the Yellow Pages for campsites.
Raimbeaucourt - The Chedville family who let us put the tent up in their yard when we'd run out of steam. Then fed us to bursting point.
Douai - Greg at MultiJouers.net for friendly assistance in getting our pic uploading off the ground.
Douai - The unknown garage owner who rigged up a temporay fix on Vic's rack free of charge.
Le Cateau-Cambresis - Le Relais Fenelon is a sweet, period hotel with a restaurant that should not be missed.
Hombrieres - The fruit and veg man who gave us an escort to our campsite one day and a lift into town the next when there were no buses.
Crest - The owner of Cedicycles bike shop (Cedric?) who tightened Vic's bottom bracket free of charge.
Ventoux - the old timers who bought me a much-needed coffee at Chalet Reynard.
Everywhere - The designers and maintainers of the well signed and marked roads.
Italy
Catania - The Pensione Rubens, via Etnea 196 (317073) is a beatifully maintained period building in the heart of town. Cheaper and better than anything else we saw!
Palermo - Albergo Rosalio Conca D'Oro, via S. Rosalia 7-90133. Clean, central, safe and cheap.
Paola - The cabbie outside the station who helped us find a place to kip. You can't miss him - he's the bloke everyone knows...
Greece
Kalamata - The Diana/Artemis rooms in the hills out of town. The views are so good we stopped cycling up a big hill and rested for a week.
Kalamata - The staff at the Web Café who were friendly, gave us discounts and let us use our card reader.
Athens - The Lozanni hotel is well located and staffed by nice people
Everywhere - Giros pitta vendors who bring joy to the masses.
Egypt
Cairo - The Canadian Hostel in Talat Haarb is a hassle-free base in a pretty full on city.
Siwa - The Desert Rose hotel is the perfect place to lay back and relax for a while
Siwa - Ahmed at Siwa Safaris is a great guide and an interesting bloke
Siwa - Hayley and Louis who bailed us out by sharing their pasta feast with us when we had no grub
Baharia - Badry at the Desert Safari Home
Baharia to Farafra - Sophy and Suliman who gave us a lift out of the desert when we really needed it
Kharga - The station masters who brought out chairs, made us tea and even let us use the phone while we waited for the train.
Luxor - Star Net on TV Street for letting use the card reader.
Villains
U.K
Osmotherley - Gravel path down to the campsite. Or the 'knee shredder' as it's also known.
France
Hombrieres - Camping D'Hombrieres. Expensive, noisy and with toilets that would make a monkey feel ill.
Everywhere - Tourist (Dis-) Information. We knew more about the town than they did from the ride in.
Bonifacio - The camp site closest to town. So crap we didn't even make a note of its name. Noisy, rule-heavy, expensive and staffed by people who think the customer is always a pain in the a...
Recey-sur-Ource - The whole stinking town. Everything is shut by 2 o'clock on a Thursday and the townspeople are troglodytes.
Italy
Vignola Mare - The campsite which charges 22 euros for 2 people and a tent. If you think that includes a full English and a cuppa then you'd be wrong.
Oristano - The whole town. Tourist info shuts at lunchtime on Friday for the weekend. The cheapest hotel is 80 euros a night. The mayor thinks it's OK to have concerts in the piazza until 2am.
Everywhere - The drivers. Everyone drives as if they're in an unfamiliar car and are desparately late for a vital appointment. Without their contact lenses in.
Ports - The men with hats and clipboards trying to load ferries in the most random and dangerous way possible. I.e not us first.
Greece
Kalamata - The George Hotel, whose staff think it's OK to chat loudly until 1am. Or we tell them to shut up.
Athens - The cabbies and their 3 euro per fare Olympic surcharge.
Egypt
Cairo - The baggage handlers who mistook my bike for a basketball.
Alexandria - The Hotel Crillon has a dark and gloomy foyer which is by far the nicest part.
Everywhere - The cabbies and shopkeepers who see tourists as cash cows to be mercilessly milked. Even when you prove you know the right price.
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