Amalfi Coast and Capri

Sad as it seems we have reached our furthest destination south. Thursday we risked life and limb on a bus along the Amalfi coast to Positano. The trip while hairy and exciting was without incident. A young Aussie couple we have since spoken with were on another bus and thought their driver had a death wish and will never ride on public transport again!
The view of the coastline from the bus was amazing especially when often there was nothing between us and a 1000 foot drop to the sea. Positano itself was a tourist haven but beautiful with narrow streets and houses clinging to the cliff face.
Friday 26 May saw us take a cruise to Capri. The seas have been dead calm for days but managed a nice choppy swell for us! Unfortunately half the boat did not bring their sealegs so many missed the view. Me (Jane) was fine, has the trip to Queensland cured my seasickness? Stephen hopes so. We landed at Marina at Piccollo and took the bus up to Capri Town. We had 5 hours on the island and were wondering what to do when the couple camping next to us at Sorrento miraculously appeared having arrived by ferry. They had a walking map and persuaded us to join them on an hour's hike. Two and a half hours later, having seen some of the best sights ever, we arrived back at our starting point exhausted but well pleased with our adventure.
Time for a swim. Easy you might think but with only an hour to spare before our return trip we did not want to part with $17 each on a private beach! The photo shows me finally having my first ever swim in the Med on one of the few public beachs on the island, and yes those are pebbles on the beach. It was heaven.
Not looking forward to the return trip on our small boat we set off for what was an incredible trip. Being a small boat we were able to pass under the famous Lover's Arch and almost into the mouth of one of the grottos. The Blue Grotto, the most famous, was closed due to the rough weather. All in all it turned out to be a memorable day.

Lake Trasimeno to Pompei and Sorrento

We ended up at Lake Trasimeno after leaving Florence and spending a couple of days visiting San Gimignano and Siena. It was time for some serious R and R. We drove into the site and found friends we had made over a week before at Cinque Terre. It was great to have a DVD evening and a cards evening with more than just the 2 of us!
The pictures show the van park on the lake shore and Dave and Christine enjoying the view.
We have found Sundays are quieter on the roads so Sundays have become our day for making moves into bigger cities.
Sunday 21st saw us leaving the quiet lake shore for Pompeii about a 5 hour drive south via Naples. It was an long and uneventful trip which was great given that we had a few warnings about being stopped by thieves on this route.
We found the camp site at Pompeii literally minutes from the ruins and were up early Monday morning to be at the ruins when they opened at 8.30 am to beat the worst of the crowds. It is a truly spectacular place and we spent 5 exhausting hours tramping over as much as possible being amazed at every turn.
The downside was the pollution and by Tuesday morning Vesuvius was no longer visible through the haze so we have moved south again to Sorrento.
The drive to Sorrento was anything but easy as we are now on the Amalfi peninsula with roads clinging to cliff edges and Italian drivers show no patience. We arrrived after what was really a short trip exhausted.
The move has been more than justified. We are parked on a cliff top with the Med on 3 sides. I can see the Bay of Naples with a cruise ship anchored and Vesuvius in the background - not bad. The site runs a daily cruise to Capri so we will do that one day.
I should mention the weather. It has been unseasonally warm and yesterday afternoon we were quite happy to while away the time by the pool. Today it is blowing a gale but the wind is very hot and dry. Think it will be a day to think about doing some washing.

Gelato

We are enjoying Italy, the sights are amazing and the food is great. We have eaten out a few times in scenic locations but we mainly cook for ourselves as the fresh pasta shops and local market products are too good to miss. Our main problem is the gelato shop that is so hard to resist. The attached photo is of a shop near the Ponte Vecchio, we found we just had to have a gelato to walk back to the camp site!

Florence

Greetings from Florence. We've had 3 nights in a campsite overlooking the city, we really cannot fault the location. However the Tuscan hills have presented their own problems. Even with wedges under 2 wheels the van has been parked with a list to starboard and even more of a drop to aft. Meals have been quick before the plate slides off the table and we have had to wedge ourselves in bed!
On the very positive side the walk to the city has taken 5 minutes, the walk back up about 15. Yesterday being Monday museums etc. were closed and we enjoyed a relatively quiet walk around the city taking in the sights and even went back down last night to see the lights. Today we set off at the crack of dawn to the Galleria Dell'Accademia to see the statue of David. The queue took 2 and a half hours even at that time but it was so worth the wait. Note in the photo the statue of David is a bronze copy in the Piazzale Michelangelo, the original is marble.
We have now heard great things about San Gimignanano and plan a stop there before Siena.
For those of you who may be contemplating a campervan some things to think about
1. Climbing up and down a ladder to a bed over the cab can get difficult when the leg muscles are seriously damaged from too much walking
2. Changing the sheets would make a great sitcom.
3. A level site is an absolute bonus.
4. Additional foam to increase the depth of the mattress would be luxury.
5. Contact by email, text and the odd phone call with family and friends helps with the home sickness - please write.
6. Do it as it is great fun.

Fast Pisa
We drove from Cinque Terre to Pisa on Sunday morning 14th May. We had intended to stay in Pisa overnight, but as we arrived at lunchtime and only wanted to see the Leaning Tower, we parked the van close by and spent a couple of hours 'doing Pisa' (with thousands of other tourists!). The tower is very impressive and well worth visiting if you are ever passing through. It is, after all, an icon for Italy.
We are now in Florence in a campsite close to the city. We had a quick walk in the city this morning but as its Monday all the museums are closed. We will stay here a few days and post a Florence blog later.

Cinque Terre

Our second stop in Italy is Cinque Terre, a World Heritage listed area on the Italian coast often called Hidden Italy. There are 5 coastal villages linked by boat, train andfootpath.
We have parked the camper at Levanto (one station north of Cinque Terre) and taken the train to Riogaggiore and walked back to Monterosso. It took a full day but we visited every village.



We plan to stay here 4 days and enjoy some more walks and take some boat trips. The walks are amongst the terraced vineyards and olive groves or just along cliff faces. It has challenged me (Jane) as I am terrified of heights but the scenery was spectacular and not to be missed. We were often walking along narrow unfenced tracks with a serious drop towards the ocean. Stephen kept saying this must be the narrowest part only to have to change his mind round the next bend.
Next stop should be Pisa.

Last days in France

We had our day in Monte Carlo. We caught the local train from Biot (Antibes) and had a great time. We missed the changing of the guard at the palace by minutes but made up for it by having lunch by the harbour watching the boats and sitting by the Grand Prix track. We paid our money and went into the Casino. Stephen played roulette but unfortunately had no luck.
Monday we set off for Italy planning to do a last supermarket shop while in France - yet another public holiday put an end to that idea but it did mean the motorways were mainly free of trucks. We are determined to see an upside to every situation.
We crossed the border into Italy and immediately ran into trouble using the auto tellers on the motorways so moved back to the slower coastal road. The first town had a brand new hypermarket with opening discounts and so we now are fully stocked with Italian fare.
We have taken the opportunity at our first stop in Italy to start to learn Italian. I am afraid it is going to be a slow process.
Next stop we plan to be at Cinque Terre to do some walking.
We are surprised the camp sites are not more social, so many people have satelite TV's which of course it not what we are used to with the boat where it seemed every evening turned into a social event. There are very few English speaking couples about.
As you may have noticed if you have been reading the blog the quality of the editing and formatting has not been good. Basically it is a factor of paying for internet time by the minute and having so many things that need to be done when we do get online. Oh for a wireless connection.

After leaving Carcarsonne we headed south again to the Med. Our first stop proved to be quite tacky and is probably best forgotten. We then drove to Arles which proved to be a great choice. Situated on the Rhone with a Roman ampitheatre we spent an enjoyable afternoon sightseeing.
Next to the Cote d'Azur - how the other half live. The picture at St Tropez could be Stephen picking his new yacht? We stopped at Cannes where I dabbled my toes in the sea, people were swimming but we are used to warmer waters.
We are now at Antibes and plan to stay here a couple of days and catch the train to Monte carlo. Camping cars are not as welcome here as in the Dordogne. The van is best left on a camping site.
Italy next stop.

Travelling through the Dordogne

As you can see from these pictures we had a few grey days as we travelled through the Dordogne but the weather only impacted the photos, we had a great time and thought the area was spectacular. After our first experience of 'free camping' at Brantome (photo of bridge) we've tried it a couple more time with huge success.
After Brantome we moved south and visited troglodyte caves at la Roque Christophe (photo of site in cliff face) and spectacular gardens at Vezac on Friday, and then the markets at Sarlat on Saturday morning and Domme later in the day. Domme is a medieval city on a hill top (great fun getting the van there) famous for it's Knights Templar graffitti (between arches in photo).
The camp site at Brantome was actually free but had no facilities, les Eyzies near the caves was 3 Euros and an extra 2 Euros for water. Roc de Gageac (photo with boat) was more expensive at 5 Euros a night but given that we were parked within metres of the Dordogne in one of the most beautiful villages in France we thought it was a bargain. We have now driven south again (8 hours) to Carcarsonne. This is a World Heritage site and we are camped 15 mins walk from La Cite - the medieval 'fairy tale' city.