Arrivederci Italia, bonjour à nouveau la France

We have come to the end of our Italian sojourn and what an epic 5 weeks it’s been. We’ll cross the border back into France tomorrow and start the trek back to the UK over the next 10 days.

After leaving Rome we spent 4 days in Pompeii in soaring heat but got the chance to visit the Amalfi Coast as well as the Pompeii Ruins themselves. Before jumping on the ferry, I had the best donut I’ve ever had in my life – so soft! Heading to Positano first, we managed to hike our way up the steep streets checking out the shops and people watching along the way! The alleyways were pretty packed for a Thursday with a lot of tourists. In Amalfi we experienced one of their great snacks – sharing an iced lemon sorbet inside a frozen lemon. Pretty expensive (is definitely a tourist gimmick) but in the 38° heat it was a welcome relief. On the way back we actually sat inside the cabin away from the sun!!!!!

 

The next day we hit up Pompeii – entering as soon as it opened to try and get ahead of the heat - not successful, sun - not successful and tour groups – somewhat successful! At a staggering 37° by 10am, we hugged the walls that were in shade, filled up our water bottles from the fountains before pouring them over our heads. Despite that, it’s still pretty spectacular, especially the mosaics and paintings on the walls in the houses and the remaining pillars.

 

After 3 hours we accepted defeat and retreated to our home on wheels for a rest before heading off to the Amphitheatre for a largely acoustic Bryan Adams concert – what an evening. Just him, his guitars and an occasional piano accompaniment. He hit all the old favourites and we loved every song whether we knew it or not.

Our campground, while in a perfect location, was a lot less than perfect, so we decided to head to our next stop early (after no sleep due to the high temps and no aircon) and we’re sooo glad we did. We headed back across Italy to the Abruzzo Coast on the Adriatic stopping for 3 nights in a lovely spot – Francavilla al Mare. Nice, comfy, spacious site, no ants (except those that had infiltrated us in Pompeii), almost 10° cooler, newer/clean bathrooms, a beach with actual sand, warmish water and a bar/restaurant on the beachfront.  Three nights of sleep, a swim, a few limoncello spritzers (my new fave cocktail) later and we felt like new people. The perfect reset to continue our journey back towards France.

 

We headed next to San Marino – a microstate and country in its own right, as well as the oldest republic in the world. It sits upon the slopes of Monte Titano with its capital a walled, medieval, cobblestoned, old town also called San Marino.  With three towers and castle-like citadels dating back to the 11th century, you’ll find it in central/north Italy. We loved it – very cute although packed with tourists and students as well, you could still wander around easily (well if you are ok with steep streets and lots of steps you can). We stayed outside the walled city (no way we would have fit on any of those roads) in a lovely campsite.

We had Dutch neighbours on both sides of us – we’ve found the Dutch a very friendly bunch and these were no exception. Our last night in San Marino was spent with a lovely couple, son and dog eating delicious home-made apple pie, 5-hr bbq’d ribs and drinking pistachio crème liqueur. Their set-up left us to shame – they had lots of outdoor lights, a lounge suite in their tent annex, a pellet BBQ/oven and an actual electrical camping dishwasher!!! I have never seen one before, but I like it. It will go on the list after an aircon unit 😁. We (and when I say we I mean largely Trap & Johan) managed to polish off a bottle of Limoncello and almost 2 large bottles of pistachio crème. Luckily, we only had to stumble next door. Needless to say, we didn’t pack up till the morning! Thanks heaps, guys, for your great hospitality and a lot of laughs!

 

As we leave Italy, it would be safe to say that while hitting all the big-ticket tourist spots is a must, we largely enjoyed our time in the smaller, more rural towns rather than the larger cities. We have seen some of the most extremes of driving – from dangerous overtaking on blind corners, manic honking, trying to run you over/off the road, very high speeds, to parking up on the side of the motorway when it rains and stopping to let you cross the road wherever you are (smaller towns generally). We haven’t found the Italians quite as friendly as the French, but there’s been a real mix!! The campsites have also gone from one extreme to the other – from ‘Hi de Ho’ type mega facilities, to small 20 pitch sites amongst the olives. We now know that Italian karaoke is as bad, if not worse, than the English version and know the words and actions to a number of children’s songs!!

 

Top spots:

·       our favourite city was Florence

·       most unforgettable experience the Bryan Adams concert

·       most relaxing place Rivergaro tied with Francavilla al Mare

·       most entertaining – San Marino campsite + special mention to catching up with Sam in Florence 🥰

 

As we head towards the French Alps, we bid Italy a friendly addio.

 

See you back in France…

J&T xx