Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2015 21:36:55 +0000
Reply-To: Poppie Jagersand <poppie.jagersand@YAHOO.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Poppie Jagersand <poppie.jagersand@YAHOO.CA>
Subject: Re: camping surrounded by peaks in Italy
In-Reply-To: <20150621180618.LDPGA.5650.imail@fed1rmwml301>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Hi Mark,
Glad you enjoy the Dolomites. I was there with my family in May.
For wireless internet the best deal is to get a SIM card locally (assuming you have an unlocked phone or computer USB stick). In most european contries Eur 10-20 gets you anywhere from 100MB to 1GB depending on provider and country. It is a good idea to ask that the shop sets up the card for you and verify that it works. (On-line help is often local language only, and dealing with an automated phone system helpline in a foreign language is even worse than on-line)
Just like US and Canada there are usually a few different networks with different coverages, and each network may be sold under many different marketing names.
An alternative to a new card for each country is to buy a card from the provider "Three" in Britain. They claim no extra data roaming charges and 25GB for just £15 in following countries USA, Austria, Australia, Denmark, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Macau, the Republic of Ireland, Sri Lanka, Finland, Switzerland, Norway, Israel, France, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, New Zealand, France, Spain. Note "Three" exisits in all these countries, but I don;t know if they have the same roaming offer as a British bought card.
Note: I have not tried this myself yet. There is an ebay seller who sells activated cards for $6 + $4ship. Other ebay sellers sell other brands of activated cards.
For voice a European SIM is far better than a US/Canadian. Voice roaming is regulated by EU to be <15cmin on a European SIM, while Canadian roaming form me is >$1/min
Martin ('85 Westy in Europe and '82 Westy in Canada)
On Sunday, June 21, 2015 4:06 PM, Mark Drillock <mdrillock@COX.NET> wrote:
We left the fabulous coasts and headed to higher country hoping for a break from the mild heat wave or maybe it is just the start of summer weather. We have been exploring the Dolomite mountains in northern Italy. Impressive beauty and steep narrow roads with touring motorcyclists and hardy bicyclists. There are some rock climbers in the camps and they get up and out early for the trails. There is little snow left on the high peaks but some ski lifts are running to take climbers, hikers, and mountain bikers up to their adventures. Our Westy is seeing the hardest days of the trip so far but hasn't complained. Over 3500 miles ago we picked her up at the port in Antwerp. I am both proud and embarrassed to say I have not opened the engine lid since the US. I hope there is no such thing as a jinx. I should probably at least have had a look. When we run down the aux battery the alternator belt has been squealing sometimes so I guess it is about time. Maybe it will wait until I change the oil.
There are and more people in the campgrounds but still not too crowded yet. The hordes should arrive in a few more weeks and the camps are busy getting ready. The campgrounds here are pretty amazing. One of the places we stayed early in our trip had 32 kitchen sinks for washing dishes. I am not exaggerating. I didn't count the separate laundry sinks or the bathroom sinks. Most camps have a set of sinks labeled for washing dished and another set for laundry. I would like to see some of these places when vacation season is in full swing but we planned our trip so as to miss most of that.
One thing we have found to be a little lacking at the camps is good wireless internet. Many if not most charge for it and limit it too. Plus my home provider has issues when I try to log in from here with a slow connection. As a result I often can't send until I get somewhere in a city like at a golden arches. This one for example was written some time ago.
Mark
| 
