The best part of Italy (for me) was the Cinque Terre. Steve is torn between it and the Dolomites, with good reason. But the protected coastal region of the Cinque Terre and its five villages on the cliffs are breathtaking. We drove to Levanto, a cool town where we found a campground and stayed for two days. Levanto is west of the Cinque Terre and has a train station from where you can connect to all five villages. First we saw the beach in Levanto and then sett...

This blog is quite short because I am tired of being behind on blogging. But the three cities between Rome and Cinque Terre were briefly visited anyhow. After Rome we headed north toward Florence but had to take a detour because our fridge stopped working. We believe it has something to do with the extra battery that is used when the van is off. This is the only time the fridge works. When the car is running it doesn't. Sometimes, it decides not to work even w...

Rome didn't start off well at all. We had been on the coast of the Adriatic Sea for a couple days enjoying some down time before crossing westward to Rome. On the way we got a flat tire. "Jess, do you feel that? It's like I'm driving on eggs," said Steve when the car started to wobble a bit. We slowed down and pulled into a rest stop. This was a no-utility stop, only a parking lot with some tables in the grass. And of course, I really really had to pee. I had t...

When we arrived to our campsite near Venice we immediately went to find ferry tickets because we were staying on a peninsula East of the floating city. We bought two all-inclusive tickets for the next day (we arrived close to dinner time that night) that were valid for 12 hours on any public transportation in Venice….so, ferries. I was still in a lot of pain from hiking in the Dolomites the previous day and was worried about my ability to fully enjoy the city...

After Milan we headed to Lago di Garda on our way to the Dolomites. This lake, the largest in Italy, is similar to Lago Maggiore in scenery but better for tourists because the land surrounding it is not as hilly. Towns and villages still line the water's edge but it doesn't take an oxygen tank to get there. Although we only passed through, taking a break to walk around the lakeshores of a large town, it was beautiful. With more time it would be a great place fo...