Into the French Alps and beyond

Vive le France!  We avoided Monaco (I think we might drive through it on the way back) and head up into the mountains. We found some reasonably priced Camping Municipale in the village of Sospel which was a little gem. Manoeuvring the van through Les Grande Tour des Alpes to get there was a bit travel-sick-inducing but the scenery was like nothing I'd seen before. Jaw-dropping rock formations with visible chunky layers pressed together and...

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Cinque Terre: an adventure in itself...

Our campsite was called 'Mare Monti' which made me think of a cheerful Italian horse every time we passed through the gates which was nice. Full to the brim but still quiet and friendly.  The railway line wasn't far, and so we set off for the furthest town 'Riomaggiore' paying a slightly extortionate single fare. When we arrived we were greeted with multiple ATTENZIONE signs and locked gates. Hmph. Many of the paths were closed. After purchasing...

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Falling in love with Florence and pronouncing things incorrectly

We stayed a week with Pete's family: aunty is an artist, uncle is a photographer, and their son is a piano extraordinaire. In a house on a hill overlooking Florence, we had an incredible time having good food, drink, and absorbing the deliciousness of Florence city. Every morning we awoke to Leo (Pete's cousin) playing a Chopin piece in preparation for his exam in the autumn. A lovely way to be gently woken up, until it got to the more dramatic...

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Near-death experiences along the Amalfi coast lead us to beautiful Bolsena

Pete wanted to drive the Amalfi coast. About halfway along I don’t think he wanted to drive the Amalfi coast. Windy, twisty, narrow roads complete with copious mental Italian drivers made us hold our breath more than once. As the van is British, I sit on the left side which means I spent a few hours leaning as far over to the right as possible. The view was absolutely stunning but was sometimes difficult to enjoy, being on corner-watching duty. Just...

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Sassy Matera, Paestum, and a visit to Decathlon

Lonely Planet guided us inland and suggested visiting the World Heritage site of Matera to see its sassi – cave dwellings. The van was getting pretty sandy so we gave it a sweep and left the lido and the glares behind. Hooray! Matera is cool. The landscape was completely different: slow-rolling golden hills interrupted by MASSIVE GORGES. The town is set upon two of them, and up until the 1950s half the population lived in caves carved into the...

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Staresville

Have you ever felt that everyone is looking at you, but really you’re just being paranoid? How about when everyone is actually looking at you, all the time, constantly staring? Because that is what we found as we stopped at the Torre Canne lido. It was a Sunday and the place was heaving with Italians enjoying their weekend. We were part of their fun, it seemed. I was intimidated by a group of young girls who were no more than 10 years old who stood...

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Daytime-mosi-infested-creepy-place + Ferry Fun

The next camp stop I will call ‘daytime-mosi-infested-creepy-place’, which is located nearby Patra. But first I will mention the 51 degree heat of Olympia which we thought would be a good cultural fun-stop en route. We managed a 2 minute walk down to the entrance of the site but had to return to the air-con for fear of our vital organs MELTING. Literally. Later, we parked up at daytime-mosi-infested-creepy-place and sighed a big sigh: it was...

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Two dinners, one boat, lots of ginger tea and the beginning of the advanture

Two/three weeks in and I finally get the chance to write a little bit. I’ve just been far too occupied absorbing sunshine and observing beautiful views. Yes, yes, it is mostly blissful, but don’t feel too jealous as the real reason I have time to write now is because I have a ridiculous heat rash that is 100% minging. I’m not allowed in the sun or the sea. Cool.   We set off for Greece to join Pete’s parents on their boat on an 11pm flight...

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