Vivere la dolce vita


Buongiorno, welcome to Italy “where beauty, history and passion come to life”. Well we have seen a bit of the passion – we thought the couple in the car next to ours was having a big bust-up but it turns out it was just a normal conversation! The Italians are certainly vocal and wave their arms about a lot, so maybe I was Italian in another life?? I certainly wave my arms about, and Trap keeps moving glasses out of the way scared I’m going to knock them over, which lets face it, is highly likely.
 
We had a lovely last night in St Raphael with Cathy – heading to the night market, having ice cream and a trip on the ferris wheel, before heading off to Italy – our first stop not that far away on the Italian Riviera, near Ventimiglia. The heat wave continued and we were packed in like sardines at the campsite. Luckily, we had the best pitch and managed to get some privacy and string up the hose so we could cool ourselves down.
 
The water fan was a gift from Cathy and REALLY REALLY useful!

We took advantage of the free shuttle service to a local town, Menton, not realising that it was actually just over the border in France again!!! However, it had the best market we’ve seen so far and we managed to purchase new shorts and singlets for Trap, new dresses and a handbag for me 😁. We also had a lovely lunch in a piazza – keeping out of the sun and heat. 


Oh and Teddy Trappitt found his cousin....


We have yet to find a really nice beach that compares with home. There’s lots of shingle beaches and even those with sand have a lot of stones mixed in with it. However, I did brace the rocks and put my feet in the water near our campsite.
 
After departing the coast we headed east towards Venice, going through the hills and staying at a lovely little campsite for a couple of nights in Rivergaro, population about 7000. Managed to get the bikes out and drive around the countryside, having a wee picnic lunch by the river. The heat wave finally broke and along with that came our first rain since leaving the UK. Temps dropped to high 20’s and we had to break out a hoody and the blanket for the bed!!!!! I have acclimatised more than we realised….
 

We’ve spent the last few nights in Venice at a very convenient campsite on the mainland. The bus stop is literally right outside our campsite entrance and it took about 10-15 mins to the island. We then jumped on a boat up the canal to St Marks Square.  It seemed smaller than I remembered (was about 5 or 6 at the time) and smaller than the pics Trap had seen. Then we realised it was because there was a concert coming up, so the whole square had seating and a stage on it and was blocked off, so you didn’t get the full experience of it!!  However, the Palazza Ducale, Colonna di San Todaro and Torre dell’Orologio were absolutely stunning and despite the masses of people, both of us loved it. I was particularly taken with the Basilica di San Marco. Not usually a churchy fan, the design, carvings, statues and mosaics were absolutely incredible. I couldn’t stop taking pics – everywhere I looked something else caught my eye!!
 

After the square, we wandered slowly through the streets taking in the shops and old buildings heading towards the Rialto Bridge – the oldest bridge across the canal. For more than 300 years this bridge was the only way to cross the canal!!! And clearly every other tourist on Venice had the same idea!!!! We had  lunch just by the bridge – our first Italian pizza and it was lovely to just relax and people watch. We wanted to go on a gondola ride but it was really expensive NZ$180 for 30 mins. You could have up to 5 people and that would have been more economical. However, we also wanted to ride in one of the famous water taxi’s and this was cheaper, so we took it back to the ferry station. Was AWESOME. Loved it. Could have stayed on it longer!! Best "uber" ever....
 


It's karaoke tonight at the camping ground, so we’re going to have dinner at the and a laugh at the camp restaurant/bar before we head to Florence tomorrow. Catching up with a friend from home tomorrow (sat) night, so we’re really looking forward to that.
 
Ciao for now.
J&T xx

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