To recap, yesterday, driving into Spoleto Basil clearly lost power. He was so weak he couldn’t even overtake a Fiat Panda, that’s how poorly he was. His temperature gauge was also slightly higher than normal, not up in the red zone, but raised. We parked up in what we supposed to be our overnight spot, and I looked under the bonnet, only to find that the tank which holds the radiator coolant was empty.

Leaving Basil somewhat under the weather we set off to explore Spoleto. Spoleto, like many of the places we have explored in Italy, is built on the top of a steep hill. But unlike the rest, the genius’ who run Spoleto have put in a series of escalators to get you to the top!! They were unlike anything we have ever ridden on except perhaps the famous escalators in Hong Kong. It took perhaps 8 or 10 escalators to reach the very highest level, but there were options to get off at various points, all nicely signposted. It was a bit like a vertical city transport system – next stop the Duomo! Unfortunately the dogs had to be carried and I think that, for once, Melek was the easier option. Mabel did not seem comfortable with the idea.

At the high point of Spoleto there is a castle called the Rocco and we walked round the outside to see one of the masterpieces of medieval engineering – a bridge across a gorge where the central pillars, all made of stone, were over 70 metres high.

We then wandered through the streets of Spoleto, which I have to say, and this is not coloured by our subsequent experiences, was the least interesting of the towns we have explored in Italy. The facade of the Cathedral is perhaps the best we have seen, but the inside had be ruined by subsequent “improvements”. Nothing else really impressed us.

There are some limited remains of a Roman Amphitheatre and some of the streets are pretty enough, but overall it was a little scruffy and it just didn’t have the general medieval feel which all of the other towns we have visited have.

One thing that Sarah had noticed in Bevagna and which we saw again here, is a notice board which contains details of people who have died. Sometimes it has information on funeral dates and on other occasions there is a poster or photo marking the anniversary of an individual’s death. In Eastern Europe we have seen photos of the deceased posted on the door of the house in which they lived. This is all very alien to people like us, from a country where death is, as much as possible, hidden from view.

On our return to Basil I asked on my Hymer forum whether I should top Basil up and carry on or call breakdown services. There was unanimity in favour of getting any problem fixed. I called our international breakdown service and about one and a half hours later a man and a low loader truck turned up. I knew from numerous stories I have read on the Hymer forum that loading Basil onto the back of the truck would be difficult because of Basil’s large and overhanging posterior.

With me speaking little Italian and the breakdown guy speaking absolutely no English communication was effected thanks to Google translate, a godsend I have to say. After about an hour of unsuccessfully trying to load Basil he gave up and suggested we fill Basil with water and I follow him 4km to his garage. It was then that it became clear that Basil was seriously ill when it required 4 litres of water to top him up.

Off we went, following a Fiat Panda which had been sent to escort us. He flew down small roads with little regard for Basil’s size and worst of all he failed to indicate at junctions leaving me to guess which way we were going. Luckily the distance was short and we were soon parked up on rough ground behind a large series of workshops.

Frustratingly the garage did not seem to know what to do with us. After two more hours of trying to get sense out of our breakdown service and conversations with the garage via Google translate and a receptionist who spoke a little English we established that they could not work on Basil because he was too big for their workshops. We agreed that we would sleep in their yard and then they would call round in the morning to find a garage who could take Basil.

After an uneventful night in one of our stranger overnight locations, at 9 am I went round to find someone to speak to and with surprising efficiency was told that they had found a garage and someone was on their way to have a look.

Yet another mechanic appeared and poked around in Basil’s innards and then after much teeth sucking and conversations between assembled mechanics and the receptionist it was agreed that they would fill Basil up again and I would drive to this new garage which was again 4 km back the way we had come! This journey was much the same, as indicators seem to be not used by mechanics in Italy and I second guessed my way to the new establishment.

This place was clearly for the big boys. Lorries were up on ramps and huge diesel engines lay about the grounds like so much flotsam and jetsam. We were now becoming used to being left sitting twiddling our thumbs while nothing seemed to happen. After about an hour a woman appeared to write Basil’s registration number down on a piece of paper and then disappeared.

After having sat around for nearly two hours finally we had some action. Basil was driven, by me, over an inspection pit and a couple of overalled men went underneath and re-emerged to announce it was Basil’s water pump – he would need a new one. Basil and us were left sitting over the inspection pit for another hour or so with me constantly going to their office and ringing our breakdown service to try to find out what was going on.

Eventually at lunchtime we found out that they were going to replace the water pump and timing belt but that it wouldn’t be ready until tomorrow. They gave us the option of sleeping in Basil in the workshop, but that didn’t appeal to us!! Luckily our breakdown cover will pay for hotel accommodation in these circumstances, so I asked our breakdown company to arrange for a hotel and a taxi to get us there. After another hour and a half of hearing nothing I decided I would make the arrangements myself and quickly found a hotel that would take dogs and they immediately dispatched a taxi to pick us up.

Sarah had already put together an overnight bag or rather bags and as the taxi arrived Basil was being jacked up and work was finally beginning, so fingers crossed for tomorrow. We are currently ensconced in a very nice hotel in the centre of Spoleto old town, which would have been very convenient were it not for the fact that we had already explored the town yesterday! The dogs are very confused being the first time they’ve been in a hotel but after the hundreds of new experiences that have been thrown at them over the last three years they have finally settled down.

Lets hope tomorrow our journey can recommence.