Location: Castiglione del Lago, Lake Trasimeno, Umbria, Italy
Sunday: Although part of me felt I really should be spending more time in Florence, perhaps visiting the art in the Ufizzi Gallery or one of the many Leonardo da Vinci exhibitions I just couldn’t face a day amongst the crowds after getting back to camp well after midnight from the UK.
Instead we packed up and hit the road, driving just over an hour south-east from Florence to Lake Trasimeno. At 128 square kilometers surface area, Lake Trasimeno is the fourth largest lake in Italy (slightly smaller than Lake Como, the third largest). The town I selected purely on the reviews of where to stay – the lakeside sosta sounding peaceful and picturesque – just what the doctor ordered.
After a relaxing lunch, we jumped on the bikes for a ride. There is a route which goes right around the lake – just over 70kms, but apparently the heavy rains during the winter have raised the lake’s levels and some of the pathways are covered with water. We decided to do a 45km return ride, heading towards the north of the lake from our sosta. It was a perfect day for ride – the weather warm but not too hot, birds singing, cuckoos calling from the woodland, butterflies fluttering by, everyone in a great mood…
The pathway wound its way along the shore, through poppy lined fields and over reed lined bridges. The views kept on coming.
Definitely up there with one of the best rides we have ever done, and one we’d be keen to repeat and perhaps complete the whole circuit.
Monday: We started our day more locally, jumping on the bikes again and heading into Castiglione del Lago. As with many towns with an ancient history, this is located up on a hill, overlooking the lake. It has a fortification which dates from 1247, currently used for shows with its natural amphitheatre.
The old town is very pretty, full of bars, restaurants and little shops selling local produce. Mr A did find a shop with a 50% off sale and made a few clothes purchases, and we did a little wine tasting along the way. Around every corner there is a medieval gateway framing yet another fine view. Just lovely.
Mr A had spotted Cantina Del Trasimeno, a wine co-operative, not far from where we were camped which was offering free wine tasting, so we decided to head along late afternoon for a sample. It turns out it is an outlet for more than 2,000 wineries from the local region – that’s the area around the lake, not even the whole of Umbria!
We tried a selection of rosetta, blanco and rosso wines, and placed and order for 18 bottles. We are meeting up with friends in a week’s time and are keen to share some local drops.
From here, we jumped back on the bikes and back along the lake, it was Monday afternoon after all, and the lakeside bars were already serving. We found a bar with nice waterside tables and settle down with a beverage to enjoy the view.
We really like the feel of this area, a lot less touristy than Tuscany (we barely heard an American accent – sorry USA friends!) and very beautiful. The wine is delicious, the climate lovely at this time of year and for us the cycling opportunities not too hilly and interesting. It is definitely a region we would be keen to return to in the future. Added to our (ever growing) list!
Thursday: There was no sleep all night as I awaited my 4.45am alarm to send me off to the airport for my flight to the UK. I farewelled Mr A and taxied to Firenze airport.
All went without a hitch and my sister Helen met me at Gatwick Airport with my niece and nephew, Elliot and Isabel.
We had a lovely morning taking the kids to a local park, the cloud clearing to a lovely bright sunny day.
It was so good to have some time with my sister before Friday’s appointment in London.
Friday: Regular readers will know I have a rare disease, idiopathic subglottic stenosis (iSGS). Sadly there is no known cause or definitive treatment for this disease, which basically results in your airway closing up, filling with scar tissue. The reference to Darth Vader relates to how it sounds when you’re breathing through a narrow airway!
Since December last year, I have been trialling a new procedure which involves injecting steroids into the scar tissue while awake (under a local anaesthetic). It has been working really well, and until about Easter I had no issues with breathing. Unfortunately, since late April I had been starting to struggle more and more, with this visit to see an Otalaryngologist in London the only way to really understand what’s going on. It was a day I was simultaneously looking forward to and dreading, wanting to know more, but fearing I knew the answer already.
I caught the train up to London, and then across to Kew Gardens. There I met with a fellow iSGS patient, Jacky, with whom I have become friends after meeting online via the support group I run on Facebook.
My hospital appointment wasn’t until 3pm so I had a chance to spend some time doing something for me. I have seen many friends visiting Kew Gardens and the Chihuly Glass Sculpture exhibition and was keen to go for myself.
Jacky was a great guide, and we explored the incredible sculptures in amazing settings. We spent a couple of hours in the gardens before parting ways.
I headed off to Charing Cross Hospital (nowhere near Charing Cross station, interestingly enough, but nearer Hammersmith) for my otolaryngologist (ENT) appointment.
I didn’t wait long before Mr Chadwan Al Yaghchi (Chad) called my name. Chad is a trusted colleague of Guri Sandhu, the expert consultant who I have been seeing in the UK since 2014 and one of only a few doctors who does the steroid injections under a local anaesthetic rather than a general.
I signed my approval forms and had a laryngothracheoscopy (a camera which passes up through your nose, down your throat, past your vocal cords and into your trachea).
The camera showed the scarring was returning to my airway, and in the area it had built up I was breathing through around 6-7 millimetres (closed by about 50-60% – think about the diameter of a pencil when I should be breathing through at least double that). As you can imagine, any extra mucus will narrow this even further, and constant coughing will cause inflammation which can cause yet further issues. This was very disappointing news, but not that surprising – I already knew it was getting harder to breathe on all these steep hills, I just now had confirmation of why.
Chad continued with the injections, all done through the camera, and within an hour it was all over. Now I begin the waiting game to see how they impact the scarring. I need to nebulise saline (breathe in clouds!) at least twice daily to keep my airway moist and help avoid issues, and am keeping my fingers crossed my peak expiratory flow (how much air I can blow out at speed) improves, and the scar retreats.
The story of my breathing over the past year or so….
The coming week to ten days will be important to determine whether it’s worth flying back in five or six weeks for another injection, or whether I will need to go to more drastic measures and have a dilation operation.
Exhausted after all the news and procedure, I headed back to Brighton for the evening.
Saturday: After a few stressful and full days it was nice just to relax with my sister and her family in Brighton.
As the day drew to a close, it was time to head back to Gatwick and fly to Florence. It has been a hectic couple of days, made all the more pleasant for being able to spend some precious time with family. 
I now know I will be back in London again in July…the question is, will yesterday’s procedure stem the decline in my airway so I can just head back for more injections, or will things continue their downward trajectory and mean I need surgery? Only time will tell…meanwhile I feel even more determined to make the most of our travels.
Sunday: It was only a short drive down into Lucca, and our chosen sosta for the night, behind a mechanic’s garage a ten minute walk from the city walls. We parked up and decided to explore on foot, given the threatening skies and promise of forthcoming rain.
Lucca is one of the first towns we have visited which is not situated on a hilltop – sitting on a plain at the foot of the Apuan Alps with flat cobbled streets. It’s a nice break from climbing stairs and steep pathways! Its history dates back to Roman times, with traces of an amphitheater visible and archaeological remains beneath other buildings.
It was just lovely wandering into town, ambling down the lanes. Mark was literally salivating around every corner, with shops selling cheese, meat, pickled and fresh produce, pasta, sauces, vinegar, olive oil…the lists are endless.
We took a break as the rain fell for an Aperol Spritz and a slice of lemon meringue pie for Mr A before continuing our exploration.
We decided to go out to a local restaurant for dinner and randomly selected one in a quiet suburban street, La Norma, promising us good quality Sicilian food. They certainly delivered!
From the street it looks like nothing special, but entering the restaurant you’re presented with high vaulted ceilings, with glass skylights, walls lined with Sicilian wine. The menu was hand written, but interesting and we both selected an appetiser and a pasta. Most of the people eating there appeared to be Lucca locals rather than tourists.
Every dish was like an art work, beautiful colours and textures, thought given to not only the flavours but the visual impact. And we got bonus dishes especially prepared without dairy products, so I could eat them too – a roast potato with a baked quail egg inside….extremely light and crispy artichoke with prawn meat…by the time we reached our pasta dishes we were quite full! We would definitely come back here again. A fabulous first day in Lucca.
Monday: One of Lucca’s main attractions is the city wall, which remains intact around the city. It is in excellent condition and topped with a wide shared pathway to encourage cycling, running and walking around the city limits. We decided to start our day with a ride around.
The streets within the walls are a maze of historical buildings, a multitude of churches and museums, grand old monasteries and art galleries. To ride through these cobbled roads is to spend your time noticing many little details – carvings above doors, sculptures inset into stone, ornate gateways…to understand all the iconography of what you’re seeing would be quite a challenge and perhaps a lifetime of work.
Throughout the day we explored a good part of the inner street network as well as lapping the city at least twice on the walls, clocking up around 25km. The only cat we saw was disappearing down a drain into another world beneath the streets…
Lucca’s a lovely settlement and definitely worth a visit, especially if you like history, fine food and wine, and shopping for clothes or jewellery. It feels a very safe and friendly area and is definitely up there in one of our favourite Italian towns.
Onwards tomorrow to Florence, and to adventures new.
Sunday: It was only a short drive down into Lucca, and our chosen sosta for the night, behind a mechanic’s garage a ten minute walk from the city walls. We parked up and decided to explore on foot, given the threatening skies and promise of forthcoming rain.
Lucca is one of the first towns we have visited which is not situated on a hilltop – sitting on a plain at the foot of the Apuan Alps with flat cobbled streets. It’s a nice break from climbing stairs and steep pathways! Its history dates back to Roman times, with traces of an amphitheater visible and archaeological remains beneath other buildings.
It was just lovely wandering into town, ambling down the lanes. Mark was literally salivating around every corner, with shops selling cheese, meat, pickled and fresh produce, pasta, sauces, vinegar, olive oil…the lists are endless.
We took a break as the rain fell for an Aperol Spritz and a slice of lemon meringue pie for Mr A before continuing our exploration.
We decided to go out to a local restaurant for dinner and randomly selected one in a quiet suburban street, La Norma, promising us good quality Sicilian food. They certainly delivered!
From the street it looks like nothing special, but entering the restaurant you’re presented with high vaulted ceilings, with glass skylights, walls lined with Sicilian wine. The menu was hand written, but interesting and we both selected an appetiser and a pasta. Most of the people eating there appeared to be Lucca locals rather than tourists.
Every dish was like an art work, beautiful colours and textures, thought given to not only the flavours but the visual impact. And we got bonus dishes especially prepared without dairy products, so I could eat them too – a roast potato with a baked quail egg inside….extremely light and crispy artichoke with prawn meat…by the time we reached our pasta dishes we were quite full! We would definitely come back here again. A fabulous first day in Lucca.
Monday: One of Lucca’s main attractions is the city wall, which remains intact around the city. It is in excellent condition and topped with a wide shared pathway to encourage cycling, running and walking around the city limits. We decided to start our day with a ride around.
The streets within the walls are a maze of historical buildings, a multitude of churches and museums, grand old monasteries and art galleries. To ride through these cobbled roads is to spend your time noticing many little details – carvings above doors, sculptures inset into stone, ornate gateways…to understand all the iconography of what you’re seeing would be quite a challenge and perhaps a lifetime of work.
Throughout the day we explored a good part of the inner street network as well as lapping the city at least twice on the walls, clocking up around 25km. The only cat we saw was disappearing down a drain into another world beneath the streets…
Lucca’s a lovely settlement and definitely worth a visit, especially if you like history, fine food and wine, and shopping for clothes or jewellery. It feels a very safe and friendly area and is definitely up there in one of our favourite Italian towns.
Onwards tomorrow to Florence, and to adventures new.
Friday: We left the Cinque Terre behind and headed inland into north western Tuscany. Catherine (navigator extraordinaire) had spotted on one of the apps that we use to find camps a winery that was welcoming motorhomes to come and stay on their property. Sosta La Cantina del Vino is also a 5 minute walk from “One of the most beautiful villages in Italy” the hilltop town of Barga, close to Lucca.
We were greeted so warmly when we arrived, and set up on their lush front lawn, power and water on hand, and invited to a wine tasting later in the day. That’s not a bad start for our first day’s exploration of Tuscany!
The village awaited so we walked in and I dived into the first providore I spotted, to be offered wine to taste and local produce…its just gets better.
A wander up to the old part of town and a cafe in a quiet courtyard just couldn’t be resisted.
We tried the local bean, lentil and potato soup, just delicious. Some local cats even decided to let us get our feline fix. 
I carried on to sample local cheeses and meats, then we rolled down the hill to camp.
I decided to take a quick explore on the bike. Thank goodness for that Bosch engine I would have never have made it up these hills so quickly and seen so much.
I still burnt a few calories though and worked up a thirst for wine tasting. What a grand affair this was, with Prosecco, then rosato then a Chianti, with each wine local delicacies were served.

We shared the tasting with the occupants of a couple of other motorhomes that were parked there as well. It was quite an international evening with Germans, an Israeli, Italians and us with a couple of nationalities to chose from. Sometimes we play the Australian card, as Brits dont seem to be too popular right now in Europe. It’s more of a shaking of heads and some quizzical eyebrows and wishing them the best of luck on their separate path post Brexit.
Saturday: We had arrived in low cloud, but waking the next morning this view had opened up.
Wow – after spending so many years in a country that’s basically flat with a few bumps, it thrills us to see mountains like this. I headed off into the village to source breakfast and discovered it was market day. Catherine’s “fear of missing out” kicked in and she joined me to pick up some local goodies.
Following a delicious lunch consisting of some of our fresh purchases, we went out for a ride on the bikes to explore more of the area, enjoying the gorgeous spring sunshine and perfect temperatures in the early 20s.
The further out you ride, the greater the views become, incredible vistas with the mountain ranges looming high over the town
I watch life in Tuscany unfold, trying to figure out what’s peculiar to the region, so what is different about people’s lives here and what’s universally the same. One of the main joys of travel for me. Striking up conversations and learning what I can. I think the big difference seems to be the rhythm of the day, with many, but not all, businesses closing for an afternoon break (the “riposa”). Some said they use the time to return home to family if possible, then head back to work mid afternoon. Family time seems to be given higher priority, and lives seem the richer for it. However, to close your business when so many tourists are passing its door and want to spend money when suits them is a brave decision. Some say the tradition is dying away, but I saw no evidence of that in this town in Tuscany with around 80% of business closed for several hours while us tourists marched past with a hungry look in shop windows.
Sunday: It was time to leave, and that meant no HGVs on the roads today, another pleasant change from what we’re used to in Australia. They are banned in Italy from Sunday travel at slightly different times depending on the time of year. What a relief on some of these twisty roads! We are now heading into Lucca, but that’s for Catherine to share.
Wednesday: We had seriously thought about missing out a visit to the Cinque Terre, given how popular they are and so much on the tourist trail, but given we were so close and travelling out of peak season we thought we’d head over for a day.
Leaving San Rocco, we headed back on the E80 and drove an hour or so along to La Spezia, where we parked up in a secure sosta along with about 40 other motorhomes. The site we were on looked more like wasteland than a camping area and was located in the docklands area of town, surrounded by containers and ships. It was not a great first impression to our visit.
Regardless, we jumped on a bus and headed into town. La Spezia is actually a very pretty town, with a lovely pedestrianised shopping area with a mixture of small boutiques and designer stores.
We had a great afternoon wondering around and Mr A managed to get a haircut too.
We enjoyed a glass of wine before dinner in the evening at a great little bar in a side street, a customer and the owner jamming to blues music, and providing entertaining conversation – La Spezia has a lovely feel.
Thursday: Cinque Terre (pronounced Chink-we Terrer) are five Unesco-listed villages painted across the steep Ligurian coast, stitched together by a great piece of railway engineering connecting La Spezia and Genoa. If you can build tunnels, then Italy is the place to work, as the scenery calls for many to link the towns. We cannot imagine how people coped before the transport networks were developed.
The five villages comprise of Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. We decided to start our day at Monterosso, the furthest away village and jumped on the train from La Spezia.
Monterosso al Mare is probably the most resorty of the five villages, with a large beach set up with sun beds and umbrellas. It also seems to have the greatest amount of flat area, with market stalls set up selling wood carvings, clothes and fried food. We had a wonder around before setting off to do the hike across to Vernazza.
The hike between Monterosso and Vernazza is described as challenging and requires purchase of a card and agreement to wear the appropriate footwear and take water. It’s a great way of doing things – we have been on many hikes around the world and seen people stumbling along in flip-flops with no sticks and no water, ultimately putting the lives at risk of anyone who is then sent out to rescue them from injury or issue.
This hike is tough, particularly if breathing is a challenge. It climbs steeply up along the coast, following a rough rocky pathway. In its favour, it follows alongside many of the terraced vineyards and olive groves you look at from the villages, wondering at the fitness and agility of the farmers who tend the lands – I can assure you they were not breathing through an airway the size of a straw when they did it!
It was a hard climb over, with some amazing viewsalong the way – it was a busy walk too, with occasional groups of people marching on past, unable to utter ‘thank you’ in any language for letting them past! But within two hours we were descending into Vernazza.
Vernazza’s a smaller village set around a lovely little fishing harbour. We sat by the water’s edge and enjoyed a gelato – banana and kiwi fruit on the recommendation of a young Melbourne lady we happened to sit beside!
From here, we caught the train our next destination, choosing to skip the village of Cornoglia and arriving in Manarona. This village sits high up on rocky cliffs, seemingly impossibly perched above the turquoise waters.
We climbed up to a restaurant with incredible views, expecting it to have ordinary service and overpriced food and drinks…but no, Nessun Dorma served us some delicious refreshments and freshly made bruschetta which satisfied our post hike hunger, with great service. Fabulous, and totally in line with all of our Italian experiences so far.
We had a bit more of an explore around the streets after lunch, before heading back to the train to head to our final village for the day.
Riomaggiore allowed us to escape the crowds and find ourselves a few moments alone to sit and enjoy the views. There is a walkway which links all five villages, but only the segment we hiked is still open. Apparently a combination of heavy rain in 2011 and abandoned terraces on the cliffs led to major landslides, plunging the path into the sea. We could see evidence of the path being restored in a few places, particularly Riomaggiore, but it looks like slow and difficult progress.
As the crowds began to leave, taking their boat trips or the train back to their hotels, you could almost feel the sigh of relief as the locals reclaimed their home streets for their own, and the lapping of the water on the boats in the harbour became the prominent sound.
We had our final look around before heading to the station and our short journey back to La Spezia. By the time we got back to Truffy at 7pm, we had walked just under 15km (9 miles) and climbed more than 100 flights of stairs. We were appropriately tired!
We’re pleased we got a chance to see Cinque Terre, but do appreciate there are many other places which are perhaps equally as beautiful, and certainly less frequented by tourists. When we look back at the spectacular places we have seen in the past week, we feel very fortunate to have experienced those without coach and boat trips blocking our views and interrupting our peace.
Every so often when you’re exploring new ground, you come across a place that you know will be etched into your memory for ever. The little port of Camogli ticked that box in spades.
We planned a stop over between Genoa and the Cinque Terre coast at a car park that was described by one reviewer as having “a nice view”. What an understatement! This unassuming bit of tarmac overlooked a chunk of coast that took our breath away.
Our first view of the small fishing town of Camogli on the Italian Riviera, about an hour’s drive east from Genoa on the E80, a road that we had been on and off for a few days.
As an aside, what a spectacular feat of engineering the European route E80 is. We didn’t realise until we did a bit of research that in fact it travels through 10 countries as the ‘Trans European Motorway’ from Portugal to the border with Iran. It then joins the Asian highway which continues all the way to Japan! We looked at this freeway in a new light. Living on a rather big island for so many years it really made us think what is possible in Europe.
So this car park was on the outskirts of a small settlement called San Rocco, with a path that led down to the sea, as well as many others which criss-cross their way over the peninsular to Portofino on the eastern side.
Firstly, we cycled as far as we could on the bikes before encountering steps, then packed away the bikes and donned walking shoes.
Without much of plan, we headed off down along this fabulous coastal path, then as we got to sea level noticed a ferry coming in. We both looked at each other and went “why not” so we jumped and were carried around to the harbour of Camogli in style.
The moment we saw this place from the water we loved it. It had a genteel calm, without tour buses, and with a real authentic air of still being a working town. Some guys were just heading off to fish as we landed. I’m amazed there’s any left to catch!
We strolled around and immediately decided this is somewhere we could happily spend as week relaxing in. When I started to write this blog and read about the town, so many people described it as “undiscovered”, well by non-Italians anyway. It sure felt that way.
Reluctantly we headed back up to our car park, via 896 steps…we were ready for dinner by the time we climbed that lot.
Camogli, thankyou for giving us such a great memory to take away. I hope you don’t change too much too quickly.
Location: Cervo, San Bartholomo al Mare & Diane Marina, Italian Riviera, Italy
Sunday: With just an 18km journey between locations, it was one of our shortest journeys yet, but not without its challenges! We followed a busy stream of traffic and our Google directions down a one way road, which appeared to get narrower and narrower with a line of parked cars down one side and a wonky stone wall on the other.
We pulled to one side to assess our options. With traffic constantly coming down the road, reversing was going to be impossible without significant help…and going forwards looked equally daunting without potential damage to Truffy and/or parked cars. Not a fun situation.
One of the cars passing us slowed and wound down his window. We half expected abuse for blocking the road, but no, the Italian driver told us that the road is not as bad as we thought, and that as a motorhome driver himself he was confident we could drive down safely. Mr A bravely took off, me walking in front, letting him know how much space was either way. To increase stress levels, a bus was following us, but amazingly was very patient. When Mark pulled over on a wider piece of road, the bus driver even indicated he understood the caution and gave me a thumbs up. Phew! Another skilful negotiation of a tricky road – absolute kudos to Mr A for excellent driving. We could not imagine such patient drivers in Sydney – they’d be much quicker on the horns!
So we arrived at our next destination with no damage done, a campground beside the beach 15 minutes walk from the village of Cervo. We immediately set off to explore.
Cervo has around 1200 residents, many of them artists, sculptors, wood carvers, painters and jewellers. The village largely built up around an initial Roman villa more than 2000 years ago. Like France, Italy has a ‘most beautiful villages‘ classification and Cervo has well deservedly achieved that recognition.
The streets are very steep, and at the moment I am not breathing too well…but made it with a little wheezing. Mark is suffering with tendonitis in his calf, so also struggled up the streets – not doing brilliantly between us! It was well worth all the effort though, with gorgeous views, interesting little alleyways and of course the friendly village cat there to meet us at the top!
Fortified walls evident at the top of the village
One of the key highlights in the village is the Romanesque Oratorio di Santa Caterina church. You don’t have to be religious to appreciate the historical and artistic significance of this magnificent building, having pride of place looking out to sea and covered with incredible frescoes (mural paintings painted on plaster).
Such a picturesque area, with plenty of exploring to be done. We can only imagine how busy it gets here in the summer holidays, despite the fact that Cervo does not appear in the Lonely Planet and has a pebbly beach.
All this exploring worked up an appetite and we went along to Pizza Pazza, the restaurant right next door for dinner in the evening. Yet another fabulous meal, and again at a fraction of the price we would pay in the UK or Australia, including a bottle of wine.
Monday: Glimmers of blue skies greeted us so we leaped on the task of washing first thing. Once everything was either hung out or dried we decided to go exploring in the other direction, biking our way to the next little settlement, San Bartholomo al Mare.
There are no bike lanes here, but the drivers continue to be quite respectful of cyclists, keeping their distance and no agression at all. This is all in absolute contrast to what we have been led to expect by the various blogs we’ve read – maybe our expectations have been lowered by our experiences on the road in Australia and New Zealand?
We took a random uphill road just to explore, and were soon making use of the motors on our electric bikes to take us up past gated villas with incredible views, meadows and Ligurian olive groves. It was all very picturesque.
We then cycled up to the next settlement, riding up a cycle friendly pedestrianised area and finding a little pizza place for lunch – yes, they even did me a pizza without cheese! We both ordered the small portion, which ended up being absolutely huge. Despite the fact I only ate half, we had no need to eat for the rest of the day!
Location: Santo Stefano al Mare, Italian Riviera, Italy
We found ourselves a lovely little car park where motorhomes are allowed to stay overnight within earshot of those gentle Ligurian Sea waves. For those readers who are not motorhomers (yet!), they are called sostas here and aires in France. Italy has over 2,000 designated spots like this. Sometimes they provide services, others like this one just a flat space to park up.
We had chosen this spot as it was right alongside the “Cycling Riveria” cycleway – 24km of rail trail stretching from Lorenzo al Mare to Ospedelettti, passing through St Remo. Just our cup of tea.
Donning full waterproof gear (what happened to that famous Riveria sunshine?) we set off to explore this little corner of Liguria. What a perfect way to see the coast cruising along on the bikes.
Slow enough to smell the roses, but fast enough to cover some ground and see lots more than walking. Along the trail we spotted a lady feeding stray cats, a sight to warm our feline appreciating hearts.
Given this area is squeezed between the mountains and the sea, ground for housing is at a premium, so we saw very few detached homes and mostly apartment buildings.
As we were finishing the ride the towns along the path were starting to come alive, as the afternoon siesta time was finishing and the locals were coming out in force for a Saturday night stroll (la passeggiata).
We did our own Australian version, being almost the first in to dinner at a local restaurant that we liked the look off – thats right no research this time! We got lucky – it was absolutely fabulous – Il Sandolino it was called – it was so new we were able to give them their first review on Google.
Our first meal in Italy on this trip set the bar pretty high, and such a reasonable price at around 30% less than the Provence prices we were paying last week. It isn’t an affluent area, with unemployment running at 10% currently, and has little of the glitter of its French Riveria neighbour, but that suits us. The only negative experience was a lady at the table next to us asked to be moved when we sat down, muttering something I couldn’t make out other than “Americano”!
This was a great introductory day to motorhoming in Italy. We overnighted for free and had a fabulous quality meal at basically half the price we would have paid at a Sydney restaurant. What’s not to like?
As we packed up to depart this morning we met two sets of interesting fellow campers. The first a British couple, fellow Hymer owners (also members of the owner’s group), Steve and Kathy, permanent travellers who offered many great tips for our foray into Italy. Secondly the German couple parked beside us who were travelling with their gorgeous camping cat, a friendly 12 year old tabby. It was almost enough to make us stop a second night.
We moved on regardless, onto the toll-road that was to take us along the coast into Italy. We filled up with diesel and then had the daunting task of filling with LPG gas. No two filling stations seem to be the same, and on this occasion I had to pre-authorise an amount in the shop before anything would start. Sensing confusion, an attendant came out to help Mark connect the French/Italian adapter and we purchased our €12 of gas – no nightmare fill up like our last experience in the UK, thankfully!
On we drove, the temperature dropping down to 15 degrees centigrade as we climbed into cloud. Before long we were back down by the coast and passing through the border in to Italy – no passports checked, but a few military vehicles around.
We wound our way along the coast, spectacular views in front of us, and before long we were arriving at our campground in Ventimiglia.
It always amazes us how you can cross a border and instantly the culture and look of an area changes. Although there has been much Italian influence in the French Côte d’Azur it is nothing compared with the real Italy.
More than one in ten people in Italy is unemployed (compare this with 5% in Australia and just under 4% in the UK and USA) and it was immediately obvious with young men hanging around and our first sight of people begging for money. Reading the forums, it seems that Italy is also the location where many motorhomes are broken into. We felt safer leaving our Truffy parked up at a campground with good reviews on the outskirts of town and taking the shuttle bus in for a look around.
Friday is the day for the big market in Ventimiglia, and we had great hopes for picking up some fresh fruit and vegetables. Unfortunately there were few food stalls, mostly selling cheese, sausage, fresh pasta, sun dried tomatoes and pasta sauces. We bought some pecorino and sausage, Mr A trying out his Italian.
The rest of the stalls were a repetitive mix of cheap clothing, shoes, handbags and homewares. Nothing unique or artistic…while this was on the scale of the market at Edmundi in Queensland, Australia, it was nowhere near the quality or variety.
After a good look around, we wandered over the river, deciding to explore the old town. It is high up above the water and dates back many centuries.
It would have been great to have taken a tour, there are dozens of interesting doorways and clues to past building uses but for now those stories remain hidden.
After a good explore, we called our campground shuttle bus and they were there in 5 minutes to collect us and take us back to Truffy for the evening.
Of course our first meal in Italy was pasta, together with pesto, vegetables and some of the delicious spicy sausage we’d purchased. But no wine. No, we are still recovering after the excesses of France!