Exploring Tuscany

We are writing this blog on a computer in the tourist office in Borgo San Lorenzo.

The last couple of days have been very hot and very interesting. Deciding to use the campsite as a base, we drove out to Prato on Saturday. We arrived there as all the shops were closing and it was a ghost town - a scruffy one at that. We cycled all around trying to find something interesting to photograph and remember with little success.

On Sunday we drove to Chiantishire, as it describes it in the tourist book, south of Florence. These are the villages that the Brits have taken to their hearts and purchased houses in and around there - no accounting for taste. The drive took us along the SS222, a very, very winding road amongst the acres of vines and olive groves. This area is where all the pictures are taken - typical hillsides with red rooved houses and the odd cypress tree dotted about. It is very pretty but the villages are nothing to write home about in our opinion. San Gemanignon is the main tourist town - hence the high cost of the parking there - 2 euros an hour and we were there for five hours. It is very beautiful though and thats where we had our Sunday lunch in a restaurant called Il Castello. It was like a castle inside - all stone walls, suits of armour and coats of arms. The food was good too. We drove on from there to two other towns - Castellano and Greve - whats all the fuss about we wonder because they don't press any buttons for us. There is basically one piazza, one church and a street with toursit shops on it. Maybe the heat is getting to us! The drive back along the winding roads seemed endless and we were happy to see Esmerelda again. Two Brits had camped alongside us, Len and Nadine from Grimsby - and we sat with them chatting and catching up on gossip with the obligatory bottle of wine until they left us to watch the Euro cup final in the bar. We retired to bed not caring about the football (gasp, horror)

Today we are having a more chilled day to recuperate and have cycled around Borgo San Lorenzo looking for internet points in an effort to keep up with emails and the blog. The Tourist Office came up trumps for us.

Tomorrow we plan to take the bus to Florence and see that - now that will be stunning and we will take lots of pictures. Some of which will be posted on the blog when we get to a wifi hotspot and can use our laptop.....unti then....

Under the Tuscan sun

Today turned out to be longer than expected having to drive on further than intended. We packed up camp easily enough and left fairly early (for us). The drive was straightforward to Bologna and we had read that it is a beautiful city - one of Italy's gastronomic delights. It has a label of La Grasse - the fat - so we thought of good food and beautiful buildings. The campsite itself is situated within the city which is unusual in itself, but as we drove towards it we thought something was more than odd. The place was teeming with black clothed, long haired, spotty oiks as far as the eye could see. There were cars parked everywhere and tents dotted on every spare piece of ground. As we pulled up to the reception of the campsite some official or other came to the car and said "no spaces - there is a big rock concert - Eye ron maydon and Acdc" - not what we wanted to hear in the blazing sun on an empty stomach.

We had no option but to move on to the next camp site on our itinary - close to Florence. So another 60 miles further on we came to our new temporary homeland. It is set in a remote area amongst trees and is quiet to say the least. It does have internet but at a high cost so the blogs will be sporadic unless we find a good internet cafe along the way. No photos until we can use the laptop either but we will add them at a later date as before.

We had a quick piece of pizza and a drink in the bar beside the swimming pool of the campsite - awful pizza - we,ve had better from Tescos - shame on you Italy. Then we went off to a supermarket to stock up on provisions. The towns around as far as we have seen so far are bland and scruffy - a disappointment for Tuscany. Or have we been spoilt in the beautiful lakes area.

This campsite is perfect to use as a base though. The train goes to Florence and Bologna and there are lots of Chianti villages to see further south - so we will do a lot of visiting while we are here.

The temperature is still very hot - 35 or 35c so that limits the walking or cycling around. There is always the pool to dip into though as we need to.
Lets see what the forthcoming days bring...

A day of rest

Nothing much to add for today - except that we have recuperated from our trip to England thank goodness.

We didn't wake up until 9.30am and then took our time getting up - because we can!

After a leisurely breakfast and shower we rode our bikes into the village - unfortunately the market wasn't there today but we bought some fresh bread from the patisserie along with some lovely fresh strawberry tarts for after dinner. Then we went to the fruit shop and bought a melon, some kiwis and some peaches for breakfast. After topping up the money from the bancomat we headed for the garage to enquire about a wash and valet for the car. That was fun as the guy there didn't speak any English and our Italian is embarrassing. We managed to communicate though with a lot of sign language and patience on both parts, as well as a good sense of humour, and we arranged for the car to go in after siesta today - she deserves it after all we have put her through on this trip. Then back to camp to laze around a bit more.

After an al fresco lunch and some Skyping to a friend of mine Steve took the car to the garage with the bike on top so that he could ride back. I did a bit of sunbathing - not a lot as it is too hot. 30 minutes on each side for a good spit roast is enough - then a dip in the lake to cool off. After that refreshing cool down I read for a while until Steve went to collect the car - what a beautiful job they made of it. Gleaming inside and out, blackened tyres and shining alloy wheels, the carpets as clean as new - I don't know how they manage that. All for 20 euros too.

We then planned our route for tomorrow as we head off again after breakfast and did some research on the net for it. A lazy dinner followed of pasta with ham and mushrooms - and of course the fruit tarts. And the obligatory glasses of wine accompanied the meal too.

After taking down the sunshade and taken up the floorcovering from outside in readiness for our move tomorrow we have all evening to ourselves - time for another episode of Rome we think.......

NOT a backward step - just a temporary one

We have been back to the UK for the day - some people go on day trips during their holiday so we decided to do the same - to England! OK so it is a bit over the top I know - but Steve had a medical appointment that he wanted to attend so off we went.

What a long day - but everything went well and the travel was straightforward. Good old Ryanair did us a cheap deal from Bergamo to Luton airport - we left the camp at 8am, drove the 30 miles along the autostrada to the airport, parked the car and waited the hour or so until the flight left. We only took hand luggage so it was a walk on, walk off journey. The plane took off on time, we managed to get exit seats so Steve long legs was comfortable, on both flights amazingly, and we landed at Luton to get straight on the shuttle bus to the railway station.

The trains leave every 10 minutes or so to central London so that was easy too, then the underground until we reached our destination. Appointment over with and we found an internet cafe, confirmed our return flights and printed off our boarding cards. Then I phoned my brother, Graham, to tell him which train we were catching back to Luton - he and Sue then drove down to meet us, we went for a pizza (yes I know - flying from Italy to eat a pizza in England!) as we didn't have long before the return flight. They dropped us off at the airport and we caught the plane back to Bergamo. Then we drove back to Esmerelda and slept very well.

On the whole we were impressed by the efficiency of the travel services in England and we had thought it would be nice to hear English being spoken again - but no way! every other language yes - but hardly any English. Sign of the times I suppose. We were impressed with St Pancras Station though - very, very nice. I had wanted to see it since it was renovated and it didn't disappoint. See pics - Steve looks good beside Sir John Betjeman doesn't he?

We did feel decidedly chilly in England although the temperature was about 20c - that shows we must be acclimatising to the hot weather in Italy. It was lovely to get off the plane in Italy and smell the warm (well hot actually) night air again. When we left Italy at 9am it was 27c and that was pleasant to us - it was 29c at 11pm when we landed and that was enjoyable to us. The whole idea of coming back to Italy was good for us - we are not feleing homesick at all - not one bit! Especially when we read the newspapers and saw what a mess Gordon is making of it all.

Yet more chilling out

Another day of relaxation is called for today we think - because we can.

After a slow start to the day we just sat around and read for a while. Then Steve decided to potter about on Esmerelda - we have been travelling with her for eight weks now and she has accumulated lots of dirt and grit that should be seen to. We have to look after her if we want her to look after us.

While Steve was doing that I chose to cycle to the local village in search of bread but stumbled across a large and buzzy market in the piazza. There was lots of colour and noise about and I bought some wonderful fresh fish there for tonights dinner - I can't rely on Steve catching us some can I? The pattiserie had some lovely bread and some lovelier cakes so I bought some of those too.

After returning we spent the rest of the day catching up on emails and the news from the UK on the internet as well as lounging in the sun, dipping in the lake and eating and drinking of course.

Tomorrow we have to return to London as Steve has a meeting there. We are flying from Bergamo to Luton and catching the express train from Luton to London. In the afternoon we are meeting up with Graham and Sue for a meal and a catch up before flying back to Bergamo. Some preparation is required for that trip as we have become accustomed to lazing around in shorts and swimming gear now - some ironing is required!!! Later when it has cooled I think.

Steve is fishing again as I write this - see pic, and I am sitting outside the caravan in the shade - see pic. We are definitely hippy style now and loving it.

I will now go and cook the wonderful fish with some local veg and have a few glasses of chilled white wine I think. What a life!!!!

Lago D'Iseo

That is the name of the lake that we have now camped at and it is much smaller than Garda but in my opinion much prettier. You can see more of the lake edges with greenery round them, there is an island in the middle that a boat travels to several times a day, and there are mountains to see too. It gives it all a much more interesting vista I feel. The town of Iseo is very pretty too - it has lots of narrow alleyways, shaded streets and small piazzes giving it such a lot of character. The town of course is spread along the lakeside which gives it a very romantic feel.

Its not too far from our last campsite - 47 miles or so - but it is closer to Bergamo airport and we have to fly back to the UK from there on Wednesday for a meeting so it serves us well to be situated here - 35 km or so from the airport.

We were welcomed by the campsites owner/manager and shown a choice of sites for Essie. We elected to camp on a shady one underneath a tree to keep the caravan, and us, cooler in this heat. They unhitched the caravan for us and sited it - and were gentle with Esmerelda, I ensured that. The view took our breath away as we entered the campsite and our plot is only 10 mtrs from the edge of the lake where we can watch the swans and ducks as well as the boats going to and fro. It is also very handy to have a cold dip in when we get too hot - which we took full advantage of today.

We set up the caravan in no time at all and proceeded to chill out, sitting in the shade, reading, then having some sun and taking a cold dip afterwards. Then we had to have a cold drink of course to replace the fluids - such hard work! During the afternoon we cycled to the town to explore and we were very impressed with it - very Italian.

This campsite has wifi all over the place so we can sit outside the caravan and search the internet, send emails and write the blog - bliss! After a lovely dinner of local veg, aubergine, zucchini, red pepper, onion in garlic and a couple of good quality beefburgers I sat down to contact whoever was online via Skype. I ended up talking to my daughter Louise for ages - that was fantastic for me,catching up on all her news about the grandchildren and their family. During that time Steve had set up his fishing line and was enjoying himself on the lake edge - being the hunter gatherer that he is - to provide for his cave. He failed miserably though and came back empty handed. And that was after we had stood in the lake earlier and saw the fish swimming all around us - the water is crystal clear. The fish must be very clever to avoid the hook! Good job we weren't relying on Steve to provide the evening meal for us though.

A lovely, relaxing day in an idyllic setting.

The heat is on.......

Literally - it has been 33c for the past 3 days and that limits our activities. Nevertheless we want to explore the areas we are in and this one is no different.

Sundays always herald a Sunday lunch and a good meal so we needed to find somewhere for today. Our plan was to drive to Pescharia, look around and test the area, then drive on to Bardolino (yes - the wine place) and find somewhere to eat there. Both towns are on the shores of Lake Garda. Our second mission was to find an internet cafe or similar as there are days and days to catch up on the blog. Anyone would think we were spies around here - a serious lack of internet facilities and when we find one they want passports, times, dates, inside leg measurements.... a real pain. But we need to update the blog - this is our lives we are recording here!

Pescharia is beautiful - city walls, old town with new added - all on the shores of Lake Garda. We found a new Macdonalds and nearly cried with delight - until we found out that they are too new to have a wifi connection yet. Move on...

Bardolino - and the roads there were packed with people and cars. Everyone seems to head for the lidos on the edge of the lakes around here on Sundays which means congested roads and frustrated drivers (and passengers). We found an internet cafe in Bardolino but as there is such a shortage of them there was a queue - and we had left our passport in the car! He told us there is a wifi place in a nearby town called Lazise though - so we headed there, with passport.

It was a good internet cafe at the back of a tobacconists - which is fairly common over here although I fail to see the connection. The manager there allowed us to use our laptop so that we could upload the pictures. He also told us that they have to record all users of the internet as a government requirement since 9/11 - goodness knows what they are expecting. I told him that even the USA don't go to those lengths any longer. It is as frustrating for him as a businessman as much as for his customers. We did get all the blogs up to date though - with pictures so that was a relief.

Afterwards we strolled around Lazise and found it to be a quaint town on the edge of Lake Garda. Market stalls were placed all around the little marina selling everything from fruit, honey, wine, nuts, cheeses - all local produce. We had a lovely lunch in the piazza - lasagne and salad. The weather is so hot that our appetites are decidedly diminished - the fluid consumption however is decidedly raised to compensate - those bieres grande taste wonderful chilled.

Air con in the car is very welcome in this climate as well and it gave us the time to cool down before arriving back at camp. We need to sort some things out tonight as we move on again tomorrow to another lake further west - Lago D'Iseo. First though some local melon and cherries went down very well as the sun set with a couple of glasses of wine.....

Sirmione

A very hot night last night - Steve got the fan out and we had it on us all night. We also had all the windowns in the caravan open and the blinds up while we slept to encourage any breeze that might find its way into us. That was fine.

The day started very hot again. Shopping was needed and we found a huge supermarket cum cash and carry within 5 minutes of the campsite. We cycled there and it was great to see whole sides of ham, crates of fruit and veg and massive whole cheeses for sale. Not for us of course but they provided measley quantities as well - see pic.

After a light lunch - the heat is affecting our appetites - we cycled to Sirmione old town. It is on a spit of land that encroaches into Lake Garda and is a beautiful place to visit. Even that small town has a huge fortress by the lake with its own drawbridge - they must have been invaded a hell of a lot of times in the past.

We walked right to the end of the spit and had our biere grandes - a more sensible price of 4 euros each here thank goodness. The waiter brought a small dish of crisps with the beers and we thought the sparrows looked brave. I crushed a crisp and had the sparrows eating out of my hand - something I never managed to get Steve to do might I add.

After a walk around the very pretty village and buying some hand made soaps and treating ourselves to an Italian ice cream each, we cycled back to the campsite.

We had to then spend half an hour taking the car to the cash and carry and stocking up on wine, beer and water as we had seen that it was so cheap on our previous visit. Would you believe a 1.5ltr bottle of fizzy water was 24 cents!! amazing.

Nothing for us to do but laze around in the hot summer evening and eat and drink some of our stock. The fly in the ointment was a group of Austrians camping nearby who spent most of the day sampling the cheap booze too and they became very happy and loud in the evening. The inevitable happened and some of them fell out which quietened them down by the time we went to bed though.

Lake Garda

On the road again to Lake Garda and what a hot day! And a warning to everyone - avoid the roads and motorways around Venice during the late mornings - it took us an hour to travel 4 km - sounds like the M25 doesn't it?

Then we were up and running though and had a pleasant drive to the Lake. The temperature guage in the car just kept going up - it reached 33c - we think the cold and wet spell has passed!

The campsite was actually on the lakeside and very pretty. Lots of boats on the lake and jetties to swim from. It was very uncomfortable for us to set up the caravan and sunshade in that heat though. We needed a cold shower afterwards I can tell you. Thankfully a lovely Swedish couple helped us to position Essie and that cut the time down a fair bit. We kept in the shade for quite a while after that and just relaxed.

We were overjoyed to find internet on the campsite a nd sat down to catch up on our blog. Problems again - when I signed into the blog website it was blocked by the campsite server whi identified it as porn! Now that is stretching the imagination a fair bit I think. Although I asked for it to be released the receptionist informed me that she would have to put in an email request - very frustrating yet again.

We emailed some folks to reassure them that we were still alive and kicking and jsut having a whale of a time and then left it to fate.

When the evening cooled we went for a walk around part of the lake by the campsite and tok a few pics in the evening light - it was very beautiful and relaxing.

Beautiful Venice

We couldn't be bothered to wait around for a bus to Punta Sabbione and as it was only 10km we decided to cycle there. Bike racks were plentiful so there was no problem leaving them until our return later in the day. We caught the Vaporetta with no problems and had a lovely 40 minute mini cruise until we arrived in Venice by sea - it did not disappoint.

I have been there before but must have been in a coma at the time because I recollected almost nothing - and I can't understand how I could have forgotten it. It is spectacular! We did all the sites and more - rode the Grand Canal on the water bus seeing all the important houses along the way. Walked over the Rialto Bridge, walked around St Marks Square and avoided buying a coffee there - they cost 10 euro each apparently.

After much walking in the very hot sunshine - upper 20s c - we decided to dine at a little restaurant up by the railway station that someone had recommended to us. Two courses for 15 euros each - that is good for Venice we thought. We sat at the pavement table and people watched as we drank our biere grandes to settle the dust in our throats. The meal was good and Steve had an extra beer - because he can. When the bill came we realised that the beers were 7 euros each! so we had been stung again - our fault totally - we will look at the menu next time.

Our opinion of Venice is that it is one of the top ranking cities we have seen. We thought Prague was the best but this is equal to it. We would thoroughly recommend a long weekend - but watch the prices.

The Vaporetta back to Punta Sabbione was a pleasant relaxation for us and then we cycled back to camp for a leisurely meal and a few glasses of wine before bed. A really enjoyable day!

The dry run

Yet more thunder and lightening last night along with the rain - will we ever be able to sleep again without the lullaby of thunder to get us off to sleep?

As before though the skies cleared by breakfast time and it became hot - reached 26c today. After breakfast we cycled the other direction along the spit to Punta Sabbione to check out the Valporetta for Venice for tomorow. Another lovely bike ride with a bit of frustration along the way - we found a wifi centre and hoped to be able to blog - but it was shut! The Gods seem to be against us.

The port was very pretty and Steve posed on one of the jetties - see pic. I posed beside the Oleander (reminds me of home in Cyprus)and in front of one of the boats. We found out that the boat to Venice leaves every 30 minutes and costs 14 euros each - and that includes boat travel within Venice for 12 hours - very good value! After that we decided on a rest and a drink at a cafe by the port side. Steve had his usual biere grande and I decided on a coffee but didn't want one of the explosive espressos - so I asked for a Nescafe - wrong! A beer came out as requested and I received a huge coffee ice cream and cream sundae topped off with chocolate sauce and a cherry on the top! Would you believe I refused it?? I did! I wanted a drink - so she went back and made me a coffee - they don't understand Nescafe as a drink of coffee! How strange. So I ended up with an espresso and extra hot water - hey ho.

Then back to the campsite, lunch and another spell of relaxation on the beach - pure heaven.

After a lovely evening meal of seafood pasta we watched another episode of Rome and had an early night in readiness for Venice tomorrow.

More exploration today and a bask in the sun

The storm last night was a good one - Esmerelda held up against it as best she could but she is getting on and it obviously took its toll on her! - see pic - only joking!
We saw that one adjacent to a market and couldn't resist.

The sun was shining when we awoke and the storm was but a memory - hopefully not to be repeated. After eating our breakfast the sky was a beautiful blue and we decided to explore more of this busy centre. It is very interesting with lots of visitors and many caravan and camping sites along the beach. Would you believe ours was only one of two that did not have internet access and the others wouldn't allow non residents to use theirs.

We cycled along the lane to Lido de Jesolo - en route we just had to stop and shop at a huge camping salesroom and bought a few pressies for Essie. Some "Axminster" for under the sunshade so that we don't have to walk around in sand and grit and a few other bits and bobs. Then we cycled on and found a huge market so we strolled around that for a while. Steve bought a new leather belt and I bought yet another pair of crocs - imitation ones. A supermarket provided some of the necessary provisions for our meals later on and that allowed us to cycle back to the campsite, eat a lunch in the shade and then to bask on the beach with a book for an hour - this is more like it!

Would you believe that after a lovely evening meal of cassoulet and a few glasses of wine - the rain fell yet again! It was lovely to sit under the shade in the heat of the evening and watch it though. It was fine rain this time and we had such a lovely day that we did not care.

Time to bail out - literally

Well - this is not what we signed up for! It rained all night - thank goodness for the ear plugs. After breakfast and trudging our way through the puddles to the shower block in the chilly morning air we decided to move on south - it MUST be brighter there.

We decamped and got soggy but we were warm in our fleeces and socks - is this really June in Italy?? As we drove south the mountains looked spookily beautiful in the heavy mist that almost reached the ground - see the pic. Then joy of joys - as we left the mountains behind the skies became brighter and brighter and the temperature rose and rose and by the time we reached our camp close to Venice the sun was shining and the temperature was 20c - this is more like it. The journey itself was not as expected though - we decided to stick to the A roads to see the real towns but they were very drab and commercialised and the traffic was stop, start all the way. And you need to keep your wits about you around here - the drivers duck and dive and push out into the road from junctions - basically they are mad, bad drivers.

Our camp site - Velablu, is on the spit on land to the east of Venice for those who like to trace our journey on the map. We were halfway between Lido de Jesolo and Punta Sabbione where the Vaporetta (water bus) leaves for Venice. Our campsite was on the beach and we had a 50 mtr walk from the caravan to access it - sheer bliss. By that evening we were walking along the beach, paddling in the sea at sunset. Now this IS what we came for. We had lunch first though at the restaurant on the campsite. Steve had penne and meat sauce and I had the best buffalo mozzerella, tomato and basil salad I have ever eaten - Pat you would have adored it! Then we went for a cycle ride to explore the area. There is a lovely wide cycle lane along the flat promontary and we rode along towards Lido de Jesolo. There seems to be lots to see and do around here. Later we sat out in the warm evening air and ate our dinner and drank glasses of wine to celebrate our new climate.

By bedtime we were surprised again though - an almighty storm - thunder, lightening and rain - is it following us? Oh well - get on with it I suppose.

Bonjourno!

Got up knowing we were going to have lunch in Trento. Quiet drive into town and free parking. Where is everybody?? Ever so quiet, tourist office closed. Perhaps because the festival started yesterday and everyone was out late and lying in in readiness for the Bob Dylan concert tonight and other festivities. The other festivities appeal to us Bob.....the timmmmmes they are a changggggging!

Walked the town within the hour. In it's heyday it would have been fabulous, the buildings stand testament to that. Downside is they have not been looked after so everything appears run down. But the town piazza was impressive. If you're ever down this way pop in for a flying visit but you would be hard pushed to fill your day here.

We found a small restaurant in one of the back streets. Teresa kicked off with the onion soup and I went for the spinach gnocchi. We both had lamb chops for the main course washed down with a very good red wine from the local vinyard.

Then....down came the rain!! Back to Essie to watch a DVD. Bit of nostalgia...out came Paint your Wagon......"Where are we going we don't know, when will we get there we're not certain, all that I know is that we are on our way". Very appropriate for us don't you think? C'mon now sing along!

Halfway through Alan cycled by and invited us round for some drinks tonight...what a very nice man. He read the daily paper and this is the worst weather in June for Italy for nine years......and we just happen to be passing through.

And in classic looney tunes exit...."That's all folks".