This was the primary reason we ended our trip in Munich. To see the “Boss” at the Olympiastadium in Munich. Not avid Springsteen fans but we had heard so much about his shows that this seemed a must.

The concert was excellent taking place in the most horrific of circumstances. Driving and persistent rain was accompanied by high winds and a temperature of around 40 with wind-chill in the early 30s. Springsteen was great and performed for close to 3 hours in conditions that many said would have caused most rock shows to be cancelled.

We had delayed erecting the awning the previous day and so we set about this little exercise on Day 23, the Saturday. In fact, the Saturday of the UEFA cup final between Dortmund and Bayern Munich. A long evening was spent in the Brauhaus at Tegernsee drinking, eating and watching the football. Jubilation for the Bayern fans at the end of the game.

Temperatures plummeted overnight and we set off the next day towards Innsbruck in gale force winds and heavy rain. With the Brenner pass ahead (although now the Brenner motorway) it did cross our minds to abandon and spend another night at Garda. Anyhow we pressed ahead and the weather gradually got worse until we hit Blizzard conditions across the Austrian border. We then made the decision to head straight to Munich and skip the overnighter at Innsbruck.

The direct route from Innsbruck would have been to exit the motorway at Jenbach and head north to Tegernsee. We weren’t sure about how accessible these roads would be in the prevailing weather conditions so we took the autobahn all the way around Tegernsee as far as Holzkirchen and then dropped down to Tegernsee.

We did drive the direct route later in the week and it would not have posed any problems for us.

Arrival at Tegernsee near Munich was late afternoon and Camping Wallberg.

After so much rain, much of the campsite was rather boggy and wet so it was difficult to find a decent pitch on the grass places.

Finally left the gem of a campsite at Semifonte and set the GPS for Lake Garda or to be more specific, Pescheira del Garda. A short and pleasant trip north through Italy reaching our destination before the Siesta and thus avoiding a 2 hour wait at the campsite entrance. Finally, we reached a “dead-end” of a road where the campsite was supposed to be.  Not a camper in sight. Firstly google maps took the rap, then GPS and finally it turned out the navigator had plotted the wrong street name.

Anyhow, we asked a passing Italian motorist for the location of Camping Capuccini. Initially he tried unsuccessfully to explain and then just beckoned us to follow him as he guided us the final 2 kilometers to the correct location. We actually found Italy a very friendly and welcoming place; apart from small roads and the chaotic driving (which appears to be genetically implanted).

Camping Capuccini was fantastic with very decent-sized pitches and a very well-organised site with beautiful views over Garda from the best pitches. We have stayed at other places near Garda and they tend to be very cramped and busy – almost like shanty towns. Not so Camping Capuccini.

The sun shone all afternoon and it was warm enough for us to celebrate out 21^st wedding anniversary around the BBQ with a bottle of champagne (well, an Italian imitation at least!). Just as we finished dining, the heavens opened up with a terrific electrical storm and that was the end of probably only the third or fourth nice day.

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.

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!

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

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.

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.