Category Archives: Travel stuff

Paestum

Ellie’s already mentioned that all of Italy seems to take a quick look at the calendar, rather than the weather forecast, before getting dressed in the morning – further proof of that came on the road towards Paestum. You know … Continue reading

Posted in By Country - Italy, Travel stuff | Leave a comment

Coasting to Amalfi and beyond

The weather broke the day we left Pompei and the heavens opened. We weren’t going far, just 20km along the coast but away from the run down urban edge that surrounds Pompei. Having stocked up at the nearby supermarket, we … Continue reading

Posted in By Country - Italy, Personal stuff, Travel stuff | Leave a comment

Up Pompei

After leaving Abruzzo and the snow behind us, we headed south with the sun rapidly warming. We’d decided that going through Napoli itself was likely to be a thoroughly daft move, and jumping on the autostrada isn’t really what this … Continue reading

Posted in By Country - Italy, Food stuff, Travel stuff | 2 Comments

After the news, the weather

On the final approach to Assisi, we’d jumped on the autostrada and skirted Perugia – a highway of tunnels and viaducts, with fleeting glimpses of suburban sprawl heading steeply upwards towards where we presumed the city centre lay. So it … Continue reading

Posted in By Country - Italy, Personal stuff, Travel stuff, Van stuff | 3 Comments

Assisi (twinned with San Francisco, Santiago de Compostela and Bethlehem)

Assisi’s pale stone buildings in its setting along a hillside can be seen for miles around. Our campsite was around 5 km from the town and we took the walking route there. It felt fitting somehow to approach it on … Continue reading

Posted in Art & Culture stuff, By Country - Italy, Personal stuff, Travel stuff | 1 Comment

On to Umbria

We left Siena with mixed feelings – we’d just about had enough of the campsite (as we seem to have had with every site we’ve spent more than a couple of days at – does the perfect campsite exist?), but … Continue reading

Posted in Art & Culture stuff, By Country - Italy, Personal stuff, Travel stuff | Leave a comment

Senese Sojourn

Siena is another Tuscan power house of Renaissance art and architecture with its own key characters – perhaps the biggest names being Jacopo della Quercia and Beccifumo – as well as featuring some of our usual suspects from the Florentine … Continue reading

Posted in Art & Culture stuff, By Country - Italy, Food stuff, Personal stuff, Travel stuff | 3 Comments

Tuscan Travels

We’ve been trying to hook up with a 2cv mate, Ryo, who moved from the UK to Northern Tuscany a few years ago – and, just as we were starting to think about moving on from Firenze, we received a … Continue reading

Posted in Art & Culture stuff, By Country - Italy, Travel stuff | 1 Comment

A van with a view

In order to give our heads a little space before hitting Florence, we headed to the edge of the Appennine mountains, towards Parma and Modena, taking us into Emilia Romagna. Yet more fantastic mountain scenery – nothing, of course, on … Continue reading

Posted in Art & Culture stuff, By Country - Italy, Travel stuff | Leave a comment

Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre refers to the area around five villages which are wedged into coves or perch on cliff tops along the dramatic coastline between Levanto and La Spezia, east of Genoa. They are largely only accessible by train, boat or … Continue reading

Posted in By Country - Italy, Personal stuff, Travel stuff | 1 Comment