I've read all these blogs of trekkers bouncing along Cinque Terre - should you walk or run from Monterosso al Mare to Vernazza? But Liguria begs you to sit and admire, or at the most stroll. We had plans to get around by train, but this morning found out we could take a once a week boat trip along the coast and tour a few of the villages from the sea. We started out in Riomaggiore entering from just best to the boat ramp, we got to walk up from the bottom, ...

After our long lazy and late dinner last night, no one was in a hurry to make a start today. Eventually the warmth of the Tuscan sun filled the room and soon enough we were back at Il Campo for a Coffee and brioche breakfast in that same glowing sun. Last nights laziness spilled into our morning, Sienna just puts the mental brakes on everything, very enchanting. Eventually though then pull of Pisa had us on the road. An hour and some change later we were pulling...

We'd planned to be on the road by 7:30, but Serg's infectious hospitality meant we kicked around feeding the Ducks & Swans until closer to 9. By the time we got out of Sirmione the car was adding minutes to our arrival time every time I blinked.  We made it to Modena around 11:30. We'd come to checkout the world's number one restaurant, Osteria Francescana. By check out I mean watch the kitchen hands load the veggies as they arrived and snap a s...

One of the most exciting parts of Europe is to order bread with breakfast as Brot and as Pane at dinner. Today we crossed 5 minutes out of Füssen into Austria, on to Innsbruck for Lunch then a few hours further south through the Dolomites into Lago di Garda for our stop for the evening. We headed off headed up through Zugspitze and the enchanting alpine vistas. Somehow I screwed with the car satnav and avoided tolls all morning, whilst it meant an unnecessary h...

Last time I purchased the tickets 3 months early and turned up half an hour late. German precision and order meant that was the end of it. This time I tried to buy the tickets the day before, only to find out German organisation requires you to buy tickets at least two days before. The queue was an hour long and that was for a tour starting in 5 hours time!  We avoided the ticket queue and opted to inspect from the outside. That same white granite that gives th...