Well here we go back into Italy from Swizerland for more ups and downs and highs and lows as we traverse the North West coast heading slowly towards France. The main reason for returning to Italy (and the highlight of this bit of the trip) was to take in the Cinque Terre villages which run along the coast East of Genoa. We found ourselves a nice spot to stay and got up early to take the train along to the first of the villages (Monterosso) and then a short boat ...

So for our last stop in Italy we decided to head for Verona. Ultra romantic city and we hoped to go to the Opera! The couple we'd met in Romania had told us about the city campsite being really nice so we planned to stay there and enjoy all the city had to offer. Unfortunately, when we got to the campsite we found there was no way our van was going to fit in - they'd had a tent - and the site couldn't take anything bigger than a VW camper so that scup...

Hurrah, we've found some places in Italy we really like - and not just because of Derek telling us to stop wingeing! We left Sorrento in a hurry - see last blog - and made for Abruzzo which is a mountainous area at the south of the Apennine range and reputedly quiet. The drive there was pretty dramatic, with moments like we were driving straight off a cliff, tunnels hewn out of rock so narrow we weren't sure we'd fit through in the van, and God knows what you're...

So we've taken a couple of weeks to wind our way from the South of Italy heading north and east until we've reached Sorrento. The weather's been lovely (warm and sunny) and there has been some fantastic scenery, so it all sounds great and some bits have been...but then you have to consider the Italian love for loud music at all hours, Italian roads and drivers and well...just Italians...lots of them. Well it is August after all and Italy (all of it) g...

We waved goodbye to Stu and Margaret and headed south - well we didn't want to feel we were on the way home sooner than we needed to! First stop was Monopoli which is a nice old town with a little harbour. All along this coast are cliff top towns seemingly just about to fall into the sea, with the houises all just about built on top of each othert. Every so often there is a little sandy beach but the cliffs make for dramatic scenery. Next we moved down to the v...