Day 26 – 17th August

Our time at Lake Garda had come to an end. We had intentions of going for another quick swim in the morning before leaving but I could not drag my ass out of bed and get it into gear quickly enough so that plan had to be shelved.

The plan for the day was to head to Lake Como. We had not booked anywhere so we headed there hoping there would be a nice site we could stay at. Rachel did all of the driving which was nice for a bit but after a while of not doing anything I tend to get very bored being a passenger.

When we arrived at Lake Como we headed to a site we found in the AA book. After getting lost once or twice we found the site, which had a scribbled sign drawn outside saying they were full. This was not good news as it was very hot, we saw a sign giving the temperature at 34c and the van does not like being driven in such warm temperatures. We decided to try head back to a site we had seen on the way in. This did not prove so successful as we somehow ended up on the other side of the lake. With the help of google maps and Rachel’s binoculars we managed to spot the site about 5km away on the opposite river bank. After much googling we found the name of the site and how to get there and we were off.

When we arrived at the site we were lucky to get a pitch as the site was very busy. It seemed to be a strange mix of people that seemed to live there semi permanently and people who we just camping short term.

Again this site was right on the shore of the lake and the beach was private. It also had its own diving board and floating platforms you could swim out to. As it was so hot we decided to go for a swim. The water seemed to be a lot colder than at lake garda but I’m not sure if it actually was. We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming and chilling on the Lake banks. 

Going for a swim to cool off

In the evening we had some dinner and bought a beer each from the shop as we had stupidly not stocked up again after Garda. The beer was lovely and cold and just what was needed on a hot day.

After dinner we had a little wonder around the site and then treated ourselves to an ice cream. As we wandered around we could not figure out if some of the people who were camping lived on the site permanently as the caravans they were in looked like they had not moved in a very long time and had full size ovens standing outside. Pretty strange place but was nice to be right by the lake.

Day 16 – 7th August

Arose early to have breakfast at the site. We bought some fresh eggs from the site shop so had fried eggs on toast. After breakfast we let our food go down fully as our moms always told you before heading for a swim in the sea. The sea was a bit choppy so we kept the swim pretty short. After the swim we packed up the van, paid the bill (40 euro’s) and got on the road. Although this was one of the most expensive sites we stayed at, it was well worth it for the location and private beach and the price did include electric hook up which meant cold beers which, as I have mentioned before you can’t put a price on when its 30 degrees.

Back on the road again we headed for a brief stop in Pisa to get the text book photo and then the plan was to head to Florence.

We made decent time on the auto strade so were in Pisa by lunch time. We parked up about 3km from the tower and jumped on the bikes to cycle to the tower. 

As you would expect the tower was packed with tourists. We took a few photos and then got a quick bite to eat which could only be one thing, Pizza!

The pizza was nice but not the best I’ve had but I’m sure the more time I spend in Italy the closer I will get to the prefect pizza.

Back on the road again we had about 150km to Florence, which seemed to fly by although we were cruising at about 60-65mph. Once in Florence we headed for the campsite that was recommended in the Lonely Planet book which we had been using most of the trip. The site was very busy upon arrival. We parked up and went to reception.  Luckily for us they had space and we were soon directed to our pitch. When we parked up we realised that our 10m electric hook up cable would not reach to hookup point so we asked if we could be moved to another pitch was fine luckily and meant another few days of cold beers.

After setting up our home we did some much needed washing as I only brought clothes for 5 days and was running distinctly low on clean stuff. After stocking up on beer we chilled in the evening sun with a few games of cards ready for a day of walking round Florence.

Day 15 – 6th August – Monaco, Italy,

Day 15 started fairly early as we wanted to get on the road before it got too hot. We headed for Monaco where we had a brief stop to have a look road and pick out a boat for when we win the Euro lottery. Strange place, Monaco. We parked up right by the harbour. I think the stop we parked is right by one of the corners in the F1 race for any fans, the one by the swimming pool. (See pic)

We then drove the tunnel as we were leaving all be it in the wrong direction to that of the race by hey.

After this brief stop of just over an hour we were on the road and heading for Italy, which is the country we always intended on spending the most time in.

We headed for Pisa, as no trip to Italy would be complete without the textbook “holding up the leaning tower of Pisa” photo. We ended up not making such good progress so stopped in a small town called La Spezia.

The site we stayed in was by far the best in terms of its location. It was set amongst olive groves and had it own private beach. We set up camp and headed straight for a swim as it had been a hot day.

The water was lovely and warm and I really enjoyed being in the sea again. We then headed back to the van to have showers and make some dinner. We sat up playing cards for most of the evening but got a relatively early night, as we were tired from the driving. In the morning we planned to head for Pisa and then Florence but not before we had another swim at our private beach.