Blogs from Piedmont, Italy, Europe - page 11

Turin (Torino to the locals) was surprising. There was not much information online or in the travel apps I'd downloaded, but there was much to see! Tourism promotion is apparently not a strong suit of the city. When I arrived, it was late afternoon, and I wasn't feeling all that well. I got to my hotel, took a bit of a rest, and by the time I considered dinner, it was pouring rain. I didn't venture very far, and was glad to have a few snacks in my bag. The next morning I headed to the tourist office, which was understaffed and very busy. I got a detailed map, and a few pieces of information there (there's a church on a hill and a funicular???), and found out which sites were open. I had discovered that ... read more

16thMay – La Mer Méditerranée. After a few days in Aigues Mortes we moved down to the coast to a favoured spot at Stes-Maries-de-la-Mer in the Camargue, we have now been in France for three weeks and have managed with out any electricity, but needs must so we stopped at our first campsite and did our laundry. Unfortunately the wind which was warm and blowing from the north was a huge problem as it whipped up the dust, and soon we found the van to be full of dust. Which upset Alan as we had just spent 8 euros washing the magic bus in a fancy car wash! So having checked the weather forecast we decided to move 20-30 km along the coast on the recommendation of a lovely French man we met at a camperstop ... read more

"Yeah, it is finally Spring Break and we are going back to Italy, but this time with my brother. It was very long plane ride but we survived. First we were in Barolo Italy. We had a very long drive to get to the hotel. When we picked up the car it had a very small trunk so my dad had to put all the luggage by my seat and I was smooshed. When we got to the hotel we went straight to bed. The next day went to a bunch of wineries. We had lunch that had the best hot chocolate ever and it wasn't chocolate milk, it was chocolate chocolate. We walked around the town and took a lot of pictures near a castle. The last winery which was pretty cool we got to ... read more

The last two days continued in the same manner. We drove different routes to different little towns or walked in the vineyards. The sun came out to show us how dramatically the colours of the grape vines had changed. The rumpled blanket of hills dressed in rows of staked vine were now coloured in reds, burgundies, yellows and oranges, offset by the green of bamboo. We were feeling the beginnings of loss to have to leave this haven on the top of the hill. The conversations with friends, the coffee in the courtyard with neighbouring farmers, the inexpressible beauty of the country side were going to be sorely missed. We ended our stay as we had started with wood oven cooked pizzas in the outdoor kitchen, looking out at the brightly lit castle on the hilltop ... read more

Lake Maggiore and Lake Garda Italy 30 Sept to 2 Oct 2013 After leaving France behind on Monday 30 September, we hit the Italian mountains and went through numerous tunnels and varying lengths. We were now in the Italian Lakes District and heading for Lake Maggiore. After finding our 1st selection of camp sites closed, Tom & Kerrie who were in the front of the camper, noticed flashing lights on another camp site so we drove in and the manager showed us a site right on the edge of the Lake. It was beautiful. Immediately Gemma raced down to the water and found swans and ducks so out came the bread to feed them. She had a wonderful time. We had dinner in the Motor home this night. Next morning (1 October – wow the time ... read more