Day 140 to 142 - 19th to 21st March- Italian Riviera, Italy

Point of departure: Florence

Point of arrival : Rapallo/Portofino

Accommodation: apartment in Rapallo,- www.holiday-rentals.co.uk apt number 604412

Km travelled today: 337km Cum: 25 747km (gravel 0km cum 4 649km)

Countries so far: 12/16

Where to next? Nice & French Riviera, France

No of photos: 145 (cum 6 541)

Slowly by surely we are making our way up the "boot" of Italy with our first stop at Pisa - the home of "Torre Pendente" (Leaning Tower) as it's locally known. The Leaning Tower of Pisa lies in the Campo dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles) along with the Duomo (Cathedral) and the Battistero (Baptistry). The architecture of both the Duomo and the Battistero has an Islamic feel to it, obviously the influence brought in by the Pisan merchants who travelled throughout North Africa. Had to take the obligatory photos including a couple of "silly" ones -John "supporting" and Marina "pushing" the tower.

Our stop for the next three nights the beautiful town of Rapallo on Riviera di Levante (eastern side of Genoa).

As with Positano, parking for the Beast was a problem in this town of narrow streets and overcrowded hillsides and after failing to find a spot in the immediate vicinity of the apartment, John took a drive west towards Zoaglia and found a public parking spot about a 10 minute walk away.It was very exposed but well lit at night and seemed about the best that was on offer.

The apartment itself was very nice, comfortable and well appointed.

Day 141 - Saturday - today we decided to drive through to Portofino with the Beast, but in truth would have been better off relying on public transport. Whilst the drive of 10km was very dramatic and picturesque along the coast, we found on arrival that the only parking (other than a 40 euro for the day, or part thereof option) was a covered garage with limited height access, far too low for the Beast. So, we drove back a few kilometres to Piaggi and found a spot just next to a bus stop, and caught the bus back to Portofino (2 euros each return) … certainly a much better option.

While Portofino is both quaint and beautiful, and is no doubt the place to be seen in summer, when the millionaire yachts anchor in the little "harbour", it was a bit disappointing for us compared to some of the other beautiful spots we had been to particularly, Positano. Maybe the weather didn't help and it probably has a very different "feel" in the summer.We ambled the "streets", checked out a few of the shops (all the big brands), visited the little church and then headed back to the Beast as it started to rain.

Day 142 - Sunday - English weather in Italy… cool, on and off drizzle, mist rolling in from the sea and generally quite miserable.However, we had planned to visit Le Cinque Terre (Unesco World Heritage site) - the five fishing villages that make up Cinque Terre all hidden in tiny coves along the craggy coastline - and this we did by train. Only recently have these villages been connected by road and rail to the rest of Italy - previously it was by boat or donkey paths (sentieri) along the cliffs which have now been paved into "hiking paths".Each of these was quaint and unique in its own way with either a beach as in Monterosso al Mare, to Vernazza with its little harbour and fishing boats, to Corniglia perched on a steep rocky coast with 365 steps (one for each day of the year) from the train station to the town's piazza, to Manarola with the train running right through the centre of the village and the station right above the main "street" to Riomaggiore with a little rocky harbour the size of a swimming pool.

We sure had a fair share of exercise today, walking through the villages and sprinting the last 300m to catch the train at Corniglia (if we missed it, it was a one hour wait to the next train). One thing that did surprise us, and which we thought we had left behind in Africa, were the "squat", rather than the "sit down" toilets in the train station. Have to wonder what the origin of this is…