We have said before that the best finds when we have been sightseeing have been the ones we had no idea about until we got to the area we were staying in and did some exploring. And sure enough we did that again today with an amazing find way up in the hills above the Casentino Valley. The weather gods have turned on us a bit this morning with some darker clouds overhead that later turned into a brief thunderstorm but very little rain. Thunderstorms can sound and look impressive when your location is in a valley and on a hillside and this one that passed through, albeit brief, did not disappoint. Then out came the sun and we were able to have breakfast on the terrace under the gazebo as we planned our day of ... read more

The forecaster predicted it and they were spot on. This morning has dawned absolutely perfect for exploring the Casentino Valley that we are staying in. The sun peeping over the mountains to the east quickly burned off the haze that hung in the valley where Poppi is located and by the time we were ready for a late breakfast it was warm enough to sit outside in the gazebo to eat our breakfast. Making the most of the warm sun we got up to date with our washing and then headed out to top up the groceries supplies for the next few days by driving the short distance to the next town of Bibbieno where there is a Co-Op supermarket. As we parked Peggy we noticed an African guy walking up to other shoppers either parking ... read more

We awoke to another sparkling morning. So much for last night’s brief thunderstorm! With a day planned without getting the car we lazed in bed for a bit longer than usual and then as the sun gradually spread its rays across the terrace we got up and had breakfast. Our neighbours were obviously sleeping in to and we didn’t see them as we did yesterday at breakfast time. Yesterday on the way home from St-Tropez, as we passed the Polo Club, which is just a short distance away from where we are staying, we noticed that they were having the first Sunday Polo Day today. We checked out the website for the Polo Club and confirmed that yes their opening Sunday Polo matches were to start today. However, the entrance closest to us was only for ... read more

We have three options for travelling from Rapallo to Portofino, car, bus and ferry boat. The BBA V1 in 2009 while passing through the area decided to try and drive to Portofino on a sunny Sunday early afternoon and got turned around by a severe looking policewoman a couple of kilometres from the small village. She had told us that ‘Portofino was full’ which we really didn’t appreciate at the time as we had no idea how big the place was and how much parking was available. After that attempt the car has been ruled out. When we arrived in Rapallo yesterday the guy who let us in to the apartment told us about a ferry service option that we hadn’t realised was available and this sounded like a much more pleasurable option over a bus ... read more

We managed to again blow the supply of electricity to our accommodation again and we have now lost count of the times it has happened on the BBA V3.Plugging the toaster in at breakfast seemed to do the trick. The worst part was though that we couldn’t find where to trip the main to get the electricity flowing again. Lucky it is our last morning here and all we will miss out on is toast. We did find the fuse box but everything seemed to be in the on position. We also checked the pole at which the electricity cable comes from and that seemed OK although it looked fairly lethal and didn’t want to play around with 230 volts or whatever they have in France. It is another superb day and we are looking forward ... read more