It is great to be back in the van and on the road again!

After a couple of days of intensive driving, we arrived at the opening to the mighty Mont Blanc tunnel, our chosen route into Italy. We were shocked to discover it cost 46 Euros one way to get through!

We enjoyed our drive through the Alps and south to the dramatic coastal region of the Cinque Terre. We spent a couple of days in the area and while bad weather closed the famous coastal path we did enjoy exploring the small villages which cling to the cliff edges and doing what walking we could.

We then headed further south into Tuscany, our first stop was Pisa to visit the impressive leaning tower and from there we went further inland visiting a few medieval towns along the way.

The weather finally cheered up a bit once we reached the Chianti region and we had several days staying in small towns there enjoying the wine, food and countryside. We were lucky enough to arrive in Castellina in Chianti with a classic car rally passing through the town, despite getting briefly tangled up in it in the motor home we enjoyed most of it watching from the road side.

While our guide book insists you need 4 days to do Florence justice we did it in just over 5 hours and managed to cram in most of the key sights, it was rammed with tourists which was in contrast to the more relaxing pace of Chianti, but nevertheless it is an amazing city and would probably benefit from a bit more time. We had a fabulous lunch in a little place called Mario's just off the market which was crammed with hungry local customers, we enjoyed some tasty pasta and an amazing pork chop!

So from here we turn north again and head for the lakes to meet up with my Mum & step Dad, Ken, in the hope that the rain clouds will clear and the sun will shine again.