OUR ADVENTURES WITH "HERR GRAU"

Our chic e-line top fans Stefania and Giuseppe were on the road again with their motorhome Herr Grau and took a trip through their home country Italy. In this report, they talk about their adventures on the road and give important tips on motorhome maintenance and care. 

Our motorhome, Herr Grau, is our home away from home. Just like a house where maintenance, servicing and beautification work is carried out, our motorhome is always well looked after and technically ready for use, partly because, let's face it, we go on holiday in it and have a great time!
 
The great thing about it, however, is that unlike the house, we can choose where we want to do this annual maintenance, which is why everything is easier and nicer to organise when we're having a coffee in the motorhome at the campsite. 
We live in Rome, and our trusted workshop is near Pisa - a bit far from home, but a trip there is always an opportunity to see and learn something new. This time, after we had finished the engine check, we drove to Vicopisano, a beautiful medieval village with two motorhome pitches.
 
The pitch in Piazza Comunardo Ferrucci, at the beginning of Viale Diaz, in the immediate vicinity of the Palazzetto dello Sport, is equipped with camper service, water connection, free Wi-Fi and video surveillance (you can reach the centre in 10 minutes on foot). 
A second, non-equipped area for mobile homes is located along the Rio Grande in the immediate vicinity of the historic centre. 
Motorhome maintenance is not just about checking the engine. 

Why should it be any different in a motorhome than in a house where maintenance needs to be done on fixtures, doors, maybe some furniture, etc.? If we want everything to work smoothly so that we don't have any nasty surprises on holiday, we need to spend some of our time cleaning the seals, keeping them soft with a silicone or Vaseline spray, checking the furniture hinges, which are subject to constant vibrations, cleaning the burner and the refrigerator drain, where sometimes the famous spindle plays tricks on us and sends us into a panic! 
It is also very important that the gas pipes are in perfect condition so that there are no bottlenecks and that the expiry date on the pipe itself is checked! 
 
At Carthago, we are lucky that the drains in the showers can be inspected and are easy to clean. Personally, I always do this when I've finished my shower. I use a thin knife to lift the chrome-plated lid that holds the hair in place so that I can also clean the lower drain. Speaking of water: The jet often runs in a transverse direction due to limescale deposits. We usually unscrew the strainer in the kitchen, take it apart at the tap in the bathroom and soak it in brandy vinegar to remove any limescale residue. 
We did this work during a lovely day out in Vicopisano and then visited the beautiful medieval village.
 
Our wanderings then took us to Marina di Pisa by the sea, where we also stopped for a day to finish the various checks and efficient maintenance of our Herr Grau, and then we relaxed by driving along one of the consular roads, the Cassia, which took us all the way to Abruzzo. 
The slow progress of this road, which leads through small villages and hugs winding hills and valleys, gives us the opportunity to find peace again.
 
So we arrived, kilometre after kilometre, in the beautiful nature that the windscreen blind offered us, in Pratola Peligna, where there is a nice free car park with electricity. Here you will find Pastificio Masciarelli, the oldest pasta factory in Italy dating back to 1857, and as you can imagine, we have stocked up on excellent pasta. 

Unsere Wanderungen führten uns dann nach Marina di Pisa am Meer, wo wir auch einen Tag lang anhielten, um die verschiedenen Kontrollen und die effiziente Wartung unseres Herrn Grau zu beenden und dann entspannten wir uns, indem wir eine der Konsularstraßen, die Cassia, entlangfuhren, die uns bis in die Abruzzen führte.
Das langsame Voranschreiten dieser Straße, die durch kleine Ortschaften führt und sich an kurvenreiche Hügel und Täler anschmiegt, gibt uns die Möglichkeit wieder Ruhe zu finden.

So kamen wir, Kilometer für Kilometer, in der schönen Natur, die uns die Frontscheibe bot, in Pratola Peligna an, wo es einen schönen kostenlosen Parkplatz mit Stromanschluss gibt. Hier finden Sie Pastificio Masciarelli, die älteste Nudelfabrik Italiens aus dem Jahr 1857, und wie Sie sich vorstellen können, haben wir uns mit ausgezeichneter Pasta eingedeckt.

We travelled along many of the consular roads of the great Roman Empire: Aurelia, Cassia, Flaminia, a small piece of Salaria, and then on the Tiburtina Valeria and in various regions: Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio and Abruzzo.

A long journey that took us across Italy from the Tyrrhenian Sea across the Apennines to Pratola Peligna near Sulmona. We travelled uphill, downhill, along narrow roads... 472 km of landscapes, history, flavours and people. That's the beauty of motorhomes - so let's treat them well, look after them and they will reward us with wonderful memories of a life well lived.

Stefania, Giuseppe and Herr Grau

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