CORTE TO LIVORNO
We woke up to the birds with plenty of time before we wanted to leave, so I did a bit of cold water public sink washing, because that's what you do, even when you are glamping!

We hit the open road back to the port around 8h00, stopping a few times for refreshments. Having learned not to stop anywhere precarious to admire the view (as I was "honked" by a lorry driver the other day and almost fell off the wall with shock from where I was taking a photo!) we pulled over in a big lay-by overlooking a stunning valley. Colin made himself a bacon butty and I prepared lunch to take on the ferry. So organised!
As we went along, I updated the mileage log and the daily spending. This is not OCD you realise, but a true curiosity to see how much this type of holiday costs. The longest daily drive so far has been just over 500km but that was foreseen in order to reach the South. The most expensive campsite was in Switzerland, which won't surprise anyone, I expect. Now that we are in the South, we only plan to drive two-three hours a day before pitching up and chillaxing.

The ferry from Bastia to Livorno was lovely- the combination of the sea breeze and the sun was a delight. We even saw TWO clouds! There were deck chairs on the...deck(!?) and it was really not busy at all, so we found a quiet little corner for reading / sleeping / sunbathing.
We spent a little time of the (four hour) crossing planning our next route. Having seen that it is mostly motorway round to Croatia, we looked up ferry prices and availability and decided that it would cost the same to drive as to take another ferry and we save mileage in our allowance too. Not that we should be too close to 8,000km set by the hire company.
The beauty of the internet...we selected our route, day and cabin (not again; I prefer the day crossings for sure!) and will have a few days crossing Tuscany and staying by Lake Trasimeno near Perrugia (the middle of the long part of the boot) as we head over to Ancona to take the ferry on Saturday night to Split in Croatia. The ferry brings us further down Croatia than we planned to drive, so we will see much more than we had anticipated, which is exciting.

We have settled in to our "site arrival jobs" with logical ease. When we arrive, I jump out and ask about availability. There are generally fewer spaces for motorhomes of our size but nowhere that we have arrived yet has been full. Next week may be a different story as the schools break up.
Once on the pitch, Colin does the electricity and I unload Mabel's boot, getting our recliners out and setting up the wine / vodka table! I had the forethought to pack a little dust mat that is good to have outside but we could do with something more substantial really, as it is very dry and dusty everywhere; keeping the floor clean as we go in and out is a challenge. I'm also a bit worried about bits of gravel scratching / digging in the lino and damaging it, so I am "forced" to keep on top of it!

Colin's gas BBQ is excellent. Chef has even prepared a mini pizza on there for me and it was lush! We are in Italy tonight though, so it just had to be pasta parcels for dinner!

This site reminds me of hi-di-hi. There are loud speakers dotted around where they announce the entertainment and we have a little view on the dance floor from our pitch so we ate our dinner to a view of the kids' disco! Colin went over to investigate but said the routine being taught by the reps looked really complicated!

So, we have another few days of Italian drivers to tolerate. The lack of indicating is laughable. You really have to keep your distance, so that when they do decide to hang a right or a left (whilst chatting to their friends on the phone), you do not go up their bottom!

We probably won't blog again until the weekend, as there won't be much to say as we are staying in Italy, but I will upload a few photos if I have a strong enough signal.

Ciao darlings!!!