San Gimignano…

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Beautiful Tuscan village, but with a lot of tourists. We were there for an hour before the heavens opened and the sky darkened. We were treat to a menacing thunder and lightning show in the rain.

Greve, Chianti…

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Beautiful Tuscan town with a market on the day we visited (Saturday). Moe needed a haircut and whilst wandering around the square we spotted a hairdressers offering a dry cut for 16 Euros. I was roped into asking the nice lady proprietor if maybe my wife could have a haircut – come back in 10 minutes was the reply.

On returning, out from the shadows appeared the male hairdresser – in my wife’s description – not the tall, dark and handsome Italian one might have expected.

Anyhow, the cut worked out just great!

Pisa…

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One visit to Pisa and no surprises what we did there. It’s rather fortuitous that a prior generation built a substandard tower or else Pisa would be a much quieter and poorer.

We used Italian public transport again. Bus to Poggibonsi and then train to Pisa, changing at Empoli.

Leaves around a 1km walk from Pisa Centrale to the tower

Firenze (Florence)…

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We visited Florence twice. On both occasions we bought bus tickets from the campsite and the bus is just a 10 minute walk from Camping Semifonte and cost around 13 Euros return for 2 people. The tourist information office in Barberino val D’Elsa were able to pre-book events in Florence – namely the Gallerie D’Accademie and the Uffitsi museum. There is a small premium to pay but it avoids all of the queues and you don’t pay until arriving at the location (helpful if you decide you need to make a schedule change).

We climbed to the top of Duomo (463 steps!) and experienced superb views of Florence and the surrounding area. Not ideal if you’re not good with heights (like myself) particularly as on the way up and down you walk around a narrow walkway on the inside of the giant dome. Scary.

Camping Semifonte…

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We are camped at the lovely Camping Semifonte in Barberino val D’Elsa for a full 2 weeks. The campsite is somewhat hilly in that all of the pitches are laid out in terraces. There is plenty of shade which must be fantastic in the summer but for now we would be happy with a little less shade and a bit more sun.

We picked this campsite because it is family run by a lady and her daughter and is situated mid-way between Firenze (Florence) and Siena allowing easy access to Florence, Pisa and Siena along with all the pretty medieval villages in Tuscany and the Chianti region.

We were very unlucky with the weather in Tuscany and Barberino val D’Elsa. Rain every day and little sunshine. The sun was hot on the rare occasions it decided to escape from behind the clouds. Chill days where we expecting to read our books (or in our high tech age, our Kindles and tablets) in the sun were spent in the caravan and awning thoroughly chilled. The camping area turned into a mud bath and we were fortunate enough to buy a fully waterproof mat to put under the breathable ground sheet. Not exactly the greatest thing to do but the only way we could use the awning.

For this portion of our journey, we will deviate from the daily blog and just highlight items of a local interest and brief comments on the places we have visited. We visited of course visit Pisa, Florence and Siena but our notes will lack the details as there are many more accomplished authors and travellers who have trodden this well-worn path and produced far superior literary works.

 

Barbarino val D’Elsa…

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A relatively short drive over to Tuscany and our next location – Camping Semifonte at Barberino Val D’Elsa. We managed to arrive before the 13:00 siesta and it is worth bearing in mind that the Italians still religiously follow this ritual so if you arrive between 13:00 and 15:00 then there’s no-one around to help.
One thing worthy of note on our travels through Italy is that the roads are atrocious. They are in the most shocking state of repair one could imagine. Towing is difficult and even without the caravan, journeys are truly uncomfortable.

Deiva Marina…

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The campsite runs its own shuttle-bus to the train station at Deiva Marina which means no driving for the day. It appears that many of the campsites in the locality do the same thing – I’m guessing because parking is an issue near the station.
We had also pre-bought our train tickets from the campsite which was a total of 16 Euros providing us the chance to visit each of the five villages making up Cinque Terre.

Monterosso

Monterosso

The first of the five villages was Monterosso which can be seen in the distance.

 

 

 

Hopping on the train shortly after lunchtime we headed to the second town Vernazza.

 

This town was badly damaged in 2011

Vernazza

Vernazza

following some major

flooding and there’s still work left to fully restore this pristine village.

 

 

Whilst walking up part of the hill behind the village we could see people walking along a very high coastal path we assumed running between the various villages. We asked a local officer of the Polizia how long the walk was from Vernazza to Corniglia – he answered that it was a 1 hour hike. The joke was on us as the hike took nearly 2 hours and was just gruelling. Having said that, I’d like to add that the views from the path were just amazing with the blue sea below and an array of wild flowers around us. The first hour was mainly steps and steep pathway, the last 50 minutes or so were all downhill.

Vernazza

Vernazza

Here is the view of Vernazza shortly after our departure. It got a lot higher than this and we weren’t exactly prepared for the hike.

 

 

We lacked proper walking boots and had insufficient liquids with us. Fortunately at the half way point a chap has his garden open and allowed us to fill our water bottles.

We spent some time looking around Corniglia and then returned to the Campsite two villages short of the five. Fortunately the receptionist at the campsite had told us the first 2 villages were the best so we had “planned” the day appropriately.

Italia…

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The longest drive of the trip so far clocked at around 350 miles. Left Vaison la Romaine around 08:30 and drove until 17:00 with a couple of short breaks. The previous day we had filled the car with Diesel in Vaison at Euro 1.30. Arriving in Italy and it was between 1.60 and 1.70 – so, stock up before leaving France!

This was our first major visit to Italy and we found the people genuinely helpful and friendly. Even teenagers at the local bus stop asked where we were going and ensured we caught the correct bus.

The arrival at Deiva Marina was not as daunting as it looked on the maps but still a very long descent to the campsite at Camping Valdeiva. First impressions were excellent with the Italian staff incredibly friendly and helpful in sorting out a decent pitch and helping us to organise the trip on Day 6 – our one full day on the Italian Riviera.

Vaison La Romaine…

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We had two nights here in Provence allowing a full day to explore Vaison La Romaine. In reality we spent the morning at the supermarket stocking up and then in the afternoon we unloaded the bikes and headed off via the back roads to Vaison la Romaine.

This is the view of the old bridge at the end of our cycle ride. We spent the afternoon exploring the old town including climbing to the old castle, perched right on top of the hill.

Bridge at Vaison La Romaine

Bridge at Vaison La Romaine

 

With more flexibility in our planning we would have stayed a few more days here.