Florence

Tues June 17^th

We decided to go to Florence so headed for Camping San Guisto, 20km south of the city. Terrible roads made it a tiring journey through lots of small not so pretty towns. We perked up when we arrived at the foothills of the Montalbano Massif – even the roads improved. The climb up to the site was sinuous. Lots of olive groves and brilliant views. The site was at 410m altitude and very rustic – in a nice way! Pitches were small  but we squeezed  onto one  with a bit of nifty manoeuvring.

view from site

Scoot out after a late lunch and we headed down into Vinci below us. Great fun on scoot going down – hot sun, grippy tarmac and hardly any traffic. Unbeknown to us it was the home town of one Leonardo Di Vinci. Nice find and worth an extra day to explore further.

Weds 18^th June

We scooted down to Empoli to catch the train into Florence. We parked up outside the station amongst hundreds of other scoots – the only Brit reg plate! 30 mins later we were in the heart of Florence. The city was hosting a fashion show so lots of “beautiful people” were in evidence. The promoters had completely wrapped the Battistero in a funky modern design. You could still see the amazing bronze gilded doors – The gate of Paradise. However it is a very accurate copy you see today!

funky!

Duomo dominates your view

Next to see was the Duomo which is huge with an amazing exterior of pink, green and white marble carvings and inlays. The sparse interior (free to see) was a bit at odds with it. Not the norm for churches in Italy. We headed south towards the Arno river through busy narrow streets. I had noticed lots of Police walking about in pairs – the most we had seen in any major tourist destination. Was this why there were no street vendors selling all sorts of tat?

amazing exterior in marble

We arrived in the Palazzo Vecchio to find a display of classic Italian cars – nice. The statues and fountain weren’t bad either! The 94m tall Torre D”Arnolfo (old palace) was impressive, dominating the skyline. The copy of Michelangelo’s David sits outside it.  The courtyard entrance has beautiful frescos and a bronze statue atop a fountain. The nearby Loggia dei Lanzi with its fountains and statues was also very impressive. Lots of people here but it didn’t spoil our enjoyment of the sheer scale of the place.

Palazzo Vecchio

Italian style

copy of David

very ornate fountain

We strolled through the Plazza Degli Uffizi on our way to the Ponte Vecchio. It is currently being restored so had scaffolding and a crane but still was lovely. Lots of artists offering portraits or original watercolours. We sat on the steps for a while and just observed.

Ponte Vecchio was crowded but ok. With no money to spend Tina could only window shop in the rows of expensive jewellery shops. Huge prices.

restoration work in progress

Ponte Vecchio

A hugely enjoyable day despite the continuing intense heat. We caught the return train with 30 secs to spare. Lots of dubious looking youths offering to punch our tickets for us. A definite possible scam of sorts (vanish with our unpunched tickets?) which we politely refused as we rushed past.

Lucca and Barga (most Scottish town in Italy)

Sunday 15^th June

We had driven up to Lucca yesterday and were at Il Serchio a camper stop for camping cars only. Again it was very close to town so worth the slightly high price! After breakfast we walked into the walled town centre. It has been a Roman colony, briefly under the control of Pisa then independent for 500 years. Napoleon ended all of this in 1805 when he placed his sister in charge! It escaped any damage in WW2 so has remained unchanged for centuries.

classic fiat 500s

We entered through Porta San Donato which was huge and complete with portcullis still in place, and immediately heard lots of car horns – a procession of classic Fiat 500’s were driving along the top of the city wall  (normally for pedestrians only) . Lots of little “Topolinis” zooming along with typical Italian flair.  Made us smile.

incredible exterior 

ornate doors

The streets were busy but very peaceful with a lovely relaxed atmosphere after the bustle of Pisa. There were several piazzas with small cafes dotted around them. We made our way to the Catterdrale di san Martino. The exterior was lavishly detailed in different coloured marbles. The stautes above the doors depicted the months of the year.

months of the year

Piazza Napoleone and Giglio had a huge antiques market with some very interesting items for sale. Some very beautiful tables with very detailed marquetry were a bit big to bring home!

antiques market

The Torre  with a tree growing out of the top entirely made out of rather crumbly looking bricks. Apparently the tree has been replaced / replanted several times.

tree on a tower!

Next stop was the Piazza Anfiteatro which is located where there used to be a Roman Amphitheatre. Some remnants are visible if you look closely above the existing buildings.  It was lovely just to sit and people watch over an ice cream. The picture below is a 360 deg panoramic view.

amphitheatre 360 view

Lucca was a very enjoyable and relaxed place to visit the cooler weather helped too!  (only 29 deg )

We left Lucca after the compulsory cup of tea at 5pm and moved the short distance north to Barga on the edge of the Garfagnana  valley. We found the camping car sosta after squeezing round a tight corner and the inevitably badly parked cars. It appeared to have caravans & motorhomes stored there and one permanent scruffy caravan?  We parked up and were told that if we didn’t want to use electric no need to pay! Bargain.

Barga sosta

We went for a stroll into the old town up the steep streets to the church (best view point naturally). I could hear Scottish accents?  This was confirmed when an old lady stopped and chatted to us – in English with a definite Scottish accent. Turns out we were in “Italy’s most Scottish town” – see pic of plaque. 

view from church

plaque says it all!

In the 50’s lots of people from the town emigrated to Glasgow and its surrounding area for work. Nowadays their families return for holidays and some have second homes. Nice quiet place with great views but again scruffy round the edges with a lack of maintenance of public amenities. Below us was a great walk down into a valley. It had a really nice water feature built out of granite blocks running down the valley to a pool. Completely overgrown , no running water and a frog infested, stagnant pool at the bottom! What a waste.

Barga - old bridge

water feature

Pisa

Fri 13^th 

After a bit of a cock up by Stansted Airport security and RyanAir Tina eventually flew into Pisa at 3.20pm. I had warned her about the heat (38 C ) but I don’t think she believed me until she stepped out into the open air!  Phew.  I had parked the van in the coaches space so easy to meet up. We drove all of 5km to Camping Torre Pendente (leaning tower) which was expensive but only 800m from the famous tower. Our pitch was covered by netting to provide shade – we just squeezed under it. Van set up we headed straight for the pool. Lovely. It was still 29 C at 11pm and a very hot & stuffy night. My ebay £10.99 12V fan proved very useful.

Sat 14^th

The site was very convenient but hardly inspiring due to an industrial unit whirring away next door! We decided to take advantage that they allow you to stay to 3pm on day of departure and tour Pisa then to move on the same day. 

it really does lean a bit

It was already roasting hot when we walked into Pisa – under an underpass then immediately right into Piazza Del Miracoli. I asked Tina if she was ready for how mad the leaning tower actually looked – answer no!  She was gob smacked at just how much it leans. You have to see it to really appreciate it. We bought entrance tickets for the Baptistry and the Camposanto which also gave you free entrance to the Duomo.

Baptistry - interior is HUGE

The Duomo is spectacularly way OTT inside as only churches can be. The carvings and marble inlays are true works of dedication and skill.  The Bapistry has much simpler architecture but is still very impressive due to the sheer scale of the interior space.  The acoustics are superb as demonstrated by one of the staff who gave an impromptu demonstration by singing a solo chorus and giving the effect of multiple voices using only the echoes. Brilliant!

Duomo - marble exterior is fantastically detailed

statues above main door

gold leaf and inlays

beautiful ceiling panels & pillars

The Camposanto (cemetery) is currently being restored. The first major rebuilding took place after WW2 when a grenade started a fire which destroyed one wings wooden roof completely. The frescos are being very sympathetically  reinstated. Statues installed in the late 19^th century have been moved and many original features revealed. It is a huge space with many crypts in the floor and along the 

walls.

restored wall plinth - not sure what chains are for!

interior of Camposanto

crypts in floor

We retreated to the camp swimming pool then decamped northwards to nearby Lucca. A very hot day in Pisa but immensely enjoyable.

F

Lago de Trasimeno - hot, hot, hotter!

Friday 6th June

With Tina having flown back to the UK for her Mum’s 90^th birthday I was left to my own devices for 7 days. I chose Lago Trasimeno to the east of Perugia airport as my destination as it had several campsites in the ACSI guide that looked ok. A bit of research on the internet had also revealed that there were good routes for a bit of road cycling. Perfecto.  Or so I thought………….

The roads in Umbria had proved to be absolutely dreadful with potholes galore that had been very badly filled. The road to Camping Listra in Castigilione Del Lago from the main dual carriageway was the worst yet. The van rattled and bounced its way to the site. I chose a shady pitch right under the trees as the temperature had soared to the high thirties. Even better it was only €9 a night all inclusive as I was on my own. On closer inspection it was okish, the toilets were old and not particularly clean but the owners were welcoming and helpful. Even better was that the lake was literally 30m away for swimming. I was straight in after setting up camp. Lovely and cooling if a bit muddy underfoot.

shady pitch

campsite beach - from a brochure??

Next day I decided to go for a little cycle to try and find the track. There was a MTB sign just outside the campsite so I followed it to what transpired to be a small airfield on the site of a former WW1 military base. Lots of old crumbling buildings and some being rebuilt. There was also the stable block for the 12 hour cross country horse endurance race that had taken place the day before  - part of the course came through the campsite past reception !  No barriers, cones or tape just 2 marshals sat on chairs. It could only happen in Italy like this.  The health and safety brigade in the UK would have had kittens if they had seen what was happening.

12 hour horse event

I then met a German TV crew  who were filming about the cycle route around the lake and its bad design - it had flooded in parts. It was euro funded and apparently not being maintained /managed at all. in Italy, surely not? I agreed to lend Irnia Tina's bike.

Next morning 8.30am, already 25 C I met them at the campsite gates. Irnia the actress (lovely bubbly person but a bit mad!) turns up in a lovely bright red summer dress and Paddington Bear style sun hat!  When I politely suggested shorts would be better she replied “my legs are not my best feature, my eyes are much better”.  So with her dress partially tied up off we cycled to the flooded sections to meet the crew (Cornelia, Corianna – sound, Florian – camera)  Roland appeared to be driver and gofer.

Irnia

I managed to ride through all of the sections much to the crew's amazement - it was relatively easy. Years of riding in the UK mud had prepared me for anything! 

film crew interviewing a local

It was a fun day and they were a very friendly bunch of people. The scandal is that the region was given euro funding for the path and a nature reserve and have not kept to the agreement that the path would not go through sensitive wetlands and that it would be maintained and publicized as a tourist attraction. The bridges are in bad order, signs faded or missing and no maps printed. This has all come under scrutiny as they recently applied for more funding to complete the missing southern part of the path. Accusations of bribes, ignoring the wetlands issues and generally being incompetent were all mentioned.