Italy - Liguria & Tuscany

---

Hi all,

Wednesday 27th April.
Leaving France behind and heading towards Italy was exciting, none of us had been here before so it was a new experience. The minor coastal road looked almost impossible in a large motor-home so instead we hit the motorway toll road and put San Remo into the sat-nav. The coast road might have been interesting but the A10 motorway was no less spectacular for scenery.
San Remo is the Italian Riveria's answer to Monte Carlo but not as flamboyant and we arrived in rain (so not a good start) then found that the camp site was not what we expected, so we found an Aire de Service next door full of motor homes and decided that would do us for the night.
What do you do when in Italy? obviously we went to the pizzeria for tea and I had some Peroni beers to wash it down, now I felt like we'd arrived in Italy.
We'd done a lot of site seeing in the past week or so which meant just this once we couldn't even muster the energy to walk into town that evening, so whatever San Remo had to offer us we missed out on it.

Thursday 28th
I had decided to get down into Italy asap which meant missing out most of western Liguria on the way, so back on the toll road again we set off for Rapallo just past Genoa.
Motorway driving isn't meant to be exciting but the 100 miles or so that we travelled on the A10 was both spectacular and scary. Firstly the amount of crammed together yellow, orange and red coloured hill top and coastal villages that you can see en route are simply stunning and all looked worthy of a visit and secondly the speed of lorries tearing past me only inches away through tunnel after tunnel was terrifying but worth it.
We made it safely but did have to suffer 30 minutes stood in our first traffic jam (I say suffer, in a motor home stuck in a traffic jam you just open the fridge and get out a drink or even an ice lolly, I felt sorry for the bloke in front in his Lamborghini, no fridge).
Rapallo our destination is a small resort on the eastern Italian Riviera, ideal as a base for exploring the area. The camp site was well placed and was again quite busy with Italians because of the holidays. Once settled in we walked into town to find a pleasant resort and plenty of locals out for a stroll that evening.

Friday 29th
With only a few days on the agenda we set about visiting the recommended places from our guide book. We caught the bus to Santa Marguerita a lovely resort just up the coast road with similar style art nouveau buildings to Rapallo. From here we set out to walk the coastal path to the well known resort of Portofino. The walk took around an hour and always offered great views of the bay and of tiny coves and beaches. One beach stood out at Paraggi where many on the same walk as us stopped off to spend time on the private beach there.
Portofino is quite exclusive and I guess only rich people can holiday here judging by the asking prices in the restaurants, but for a couple of hours it was nice to take in the atmosphere and walk around the colourful bay with it's painted houses (a bit like Balamory!) There were plenty of day visitors around and a yacht race had made port that day so the place was very very busy, which lead to a packed but interesting bus journey back to Rapallo (locals nearly scrapping).

Saturday 30th
Just a short train ride across the peninsula is the small fishing village of Camogli. Like the other 3 towns we'd visited all the buildings are coloured and in the art nouveau style, it makes an ordinary fishing village look very picturesque. More bad timing as we just seem to miss out on all these festivals, in Camogli a huge 3 metre dish was been erected on the beach where a giant fish dish will be cooked and celebrations with bonfires and fireworks will take place, we were a week too early again! After more wandering around and eating even more delicious ice creams by the beach we headed off back to site.

Sunday 1st May.
After a busy couple of days and aching feet Sunday was spent sitting by the pool and not doing much at all.

Monday 2nd
Leaving the Italian Riviera behind we followed the coast via the motorway to start our whistle stop tour of Tuscany.
Pisa was our first stop and the camp site couldn't be better placed, just 800 metres from the Piazza dei Miracoli where all the action is. Straight into town for the afternoon and straight amongst the tourist masses, it was very busy. Walking into the Piazza from the east side you are met with the stunning sights of the Doumo, the Baptistry and the Leaning Tower, all stood out among the manicured green lawns of the Piazza, a site we all agreed was quite special and as Harry said, that is one of the wonders of the world!
We bought our tickets and set off on a walk around the whole town before returning for our chosen time of 1800 to climb the tower. Pisa is quite a small town and you can easily walk from the north (tower end) across the town and over the river Arno, through the southern sites and back again in a couple of hours.
That's what we did, taking a leisurely walk around the place before returning to sit on the lawn at the base of the tower, watching tourists get into that famous photo position of holding up the tower (there were many variations on this theme that made us laugh). 18:00 and our turn with the 42 others to climb the 294 steps. Quite and easy climb but a bit strange as you feel the tilt on the staircase on the way. Up the final tiny steps and great views awaited across Pisa and Tuscany from the very lop sided walkway.
Pisa done it was back to the van to watch Harry's new Harry Potter dvd that night.

Tuesday 3rd
Next on the Tuscany agenda, Florence. A short drive across the rolling Toscana countryside and we were quickly parked up and ready to explore the sites.
The camp site here is also well placed just on the south side of town next to the Piazalle Michelangelo which gives great views over the whole city, especially when lit up at night.
Now the kids are not that bothered about museums as regular readers will no doubt have realised so taking them around the master piece packed Uffizi gallery was pointless so armed with a sites to see guide we set off wandering.
First stop was the Ponte Vecchio, built in 1345 it once housed the towns butchers shops but in the 16th century Ferdinando I de' Medici ordered them out and the towns jewellers in and they still line the bridge on either side.
We walked by the galleries de Uffizi which houses masterpieces by artists such as Botticelli and Leonardo, the Palazzo Vecchio with it's striking 94 metre tall tower and the Piazza Della Signoria the cafe lined piazza with it's copy of Michelangelo's David and copies of Donatellos works dominating the area. The whole piazza is like an open air museum, very impressive.
Winding our way through the medieval streets to the Piazza del Doumo we passed the site of the old Roman forum, museums, churches and galleries, history was everywhere.
The Doumo is quite a site, the marble facade, the bell tower and the red tiled roof dominate the piazza. Begun in 1296 it took almost 150 years to complete and 16 years just for the dome.
Onto the San Lorenzo area where the Medici family built their own mausoleum the Cappelle Medici where 50 odd Medici family are buried.
After a bite to eat we wandered south back towards the river Arno and again over Ponte Vecchio where we got hit by a sudden downpour. That evening me and Harry watched the sun go down and the lights come on across the city from the Piazza Michelangelo view point.

Wednesday 4th
Our next Tuscan stop was San Gimignano. Just 30k south of Florence this town was en route and seemed worthy of a visit. Once set up on our new camp site we jumped on the local bus into the town. In the 12th and 13th centuries the city's medieval families built towers to show their wealth, power and status, each out doing the last, in all 72 towers once stood in this hill top town but now only 14 remain. Much of the town lies within the fortified walls and it is a charming place to walk around but it's a magnet for tourist day trippers, especially Americans.
That evening we sampled more Italian cuisine in the restaurant whilst watching the football on telly (how very Italian).

Thursday 5th
Moving south through the Chianti wine region amongst the now sprouting vines our final Tuscan stop was in Siena.
After watching The Quantum of Solace (yes I know this trip is sometimes dictated by film locations, you wait until we hit Rome!) Siena looked like an interesting place to stop. With a centre full of historic Gothic buildings, picture postcard street views and many museums and galleries no wonder Siena is a UNESCO World Heritage site. I liked the style and feel of the place especially Piazza Del Campo (Il campo) where people sit out in the sun with a drink and soak up the view of the elegant Palazzo Comunale with it's towering Torre del Mangia dominating the skyline.
Il campo is really why we visited Siena after seeing it in the film, it is where the wild horse race Il Palio is staged twice each summer. Ten of Siena's districts compete for a silk banner (Palio) by riding 3 times around the piazza, it's quite a spectacle. We settled for another big ice cream each and sat under the tower in the sun imagining the huge crowds that amass here on race day.
We spent the rest of the day visiting the Doumo and the cities fort and wandering around the many medieval streets with more picturesque views before retiring to the van our Tuscan tour over.
I know there's lots more we could have seen and done, you could probably spend a month in just this corner of Italy, but with just a month to see as many as Italy's famous sites as possible we had to move on.

So it's arrivederci to all, were off to Rome next.

Neil Dan and Harry
x

---