Italy is having an early season heatwave with temperatures above 30° for the past week and no sign of abating. So our travelling day from Assisi to Florence was going to be hot. We have had a great two days in Bastia, a town near Assisi, and our hotel was absolutely fabulous. We had great hosts who made us very welcome and we had a lot of fun chatting with them at every opportunity. Travelling to Florence we passed through the district in which we stayed for a week exactly ten years ago. So as we passed the well-remembered turn off to San Rocca a Pilli we just had to detour. All the memories came spilling back. We even noticed the little red private letter box where one of our daughters posted her post cards to ... read more

Leaving the excitement of Roma and our Camping Village accommodation this morning , we made it onto the ring road and exited successfully at the right spot for the drive north to Bastia, near Assisi. Avoiding the toll road, we enjoyed some magnificent pastoral scenery as we made our way towards the region of Umbria. Fields of sunflowers appeared along with golden grains ready for harvest, ancient hill towns and the green of hedges and trees everywhere. Quite a sight under the hot sun and blue sky. One of our aims today was to visit Orvieto, a beautiful hill town we had passed by during our bus tour 10 years ago with just a glimpse from the autostrada. This time we were not going to miss it. From the moment we rounded a hairpin bend in ... read more

An earlier start today had us in Rome soon after 10.00am before the real heat developed. We had a little list to get us started and found it easy to get to our first stop, the Spanish Steps. The steps were not too busy so we took the opportunity to climb and sit and take photos, as millions have done before us. After a walk through shady streets we arrived at our next stop, St Peter’s Basilica. Our approach to the Vatican was punctuated by the many touts wanting to sell tours but on we went. By now the crowds were building and the march of the tour parties was hard to avoid in and around St Peter’s Square. Our intention had been to go into St Peter’s Basilica but the queue was winding right around ... read more

Again we woke without any sore muscles. We must be super fit people who are now ready to tackle any physical challenge. Perhaps the next one is in Switzerland when we visit the mountain town of Zermatt and the area around the Matterhorn in early July. Once again we followed camp instructions that said check out was before 10:00am and check in after 5:00pm. Trying to hand in the keys and swipe card was delayed by happy campers checking in. Frustrating for all! Finally, the blue bands were off and we were heading south. The day was going to be hot but there was a strong wind blowing. We made a brief detour to the seaside town of San Vincenzo. The tide was on its way out and the sea was very choppy and churned up ... read more

No lying in today! We awoke expecting brilliant sunshine but were instead greeted by an overcast sky as we prepared for the long awaited trek along the Cinque Terre trail. This weather would later turn out to be advantageous as we avoided heatstroke, dehydration and sunburn (almost). The grand plan involved catching the free shuttle to the nearest train station, then purchasing all necessary tickets to get us to Monterosso, the starting point for our walk. A word to the wise – avoid using the toilets at this train station if at all possible. No need to elaborate! We began the walk in high spirits along the easy level promenade, admiring the precision of the deck chair arrangement on the carefully groomed beach. Our pleasure was quickly subdued as we commenced the real trail up from ... read more