Sitting in a campground in Italy, about 10 minutes by bus outside of Venice we are contemplating our next move as we pore over our map of Europe.The Polish man from the tents next to ours recommends we make our way down to Croatia, we are contemplating any country that doesn't use the Euro.Our plans to visit Rachael near Sienna have been shelved as it turns out she won't be arriving for another month.We are growing very tired of Italy and have decided to save Rome and Florence for another time.

We left off our last blog in Carcassone France, which is a fortified village on a hilltop looking out over the surrounding countryside.They are beautiful ruins.Actually they are largely restored and teaming with tourist shops and cafes, never the less an interesting cultural experience even for cultural heathens such as us.

That afternoon we sped towards the Mediterranean for a little beach time and my first glimpse of this infamous region.Reaching Cap d'Agde in the early evening we tossed up between our camp ground options.The naturalist camp; which we passed on.Watching strangers peal vegetables in the nude doesn't do it for us.Or Camp Clapp, need we say more.Welcome to the Med, the gates of tourism hell.

From Cap d'Agde we snail crawled our way in relentless traffic along the coastline toward Italy, passing famousname towns who's faces are now reminiscent of Hollywood starlets who refuse to disappear gracefully from the limelight.A twilight dinner.Designer salads and chilled rose at a cafe overlooking the harbour of Cannes.We take guesses at what the people who own such mega yachts must do for a living.Colombian drug baron is a popular thought.A night in Antibes and toward Italy we speed figuring that although we have skipped Provence it will only be down the road from our future home in Lyon.

We cruise through Nice and stop at a lookout high above the town on the road to Eze.The Med shimmers far below us and hints at the former beauty of this coastline many years ago before the world loved it to death.Through Monaco we drove on.Here we planned to stop and admire the wealth and the beauty but Monte Carlo had no parking spots for the likes of us.Perhaps we can return for a weekend jaunt sometime in the future.

Finally we crossed in to Italy.Crawling to a cafe for lunch of slapped together Pannini's (an Italian bread roll) by the water in San Remo.Where we breathed a sigh of relief and stared at their stony beaches wondering how uncomfortable it must be lounging there on a towel.In the week or so we stayed on the Med we wandered down, swimmers in hand numerous times.We splashed about with our feet and decided on every occasion that it simply wasn't appetizing enough to get changed and get wet.Perhaps as Australian's we are spoilt by what a real beach can be.

Italy, the land of romantic dreams; villas amongst the vineyards or the olive groves and long slow alfresco lunches in the piazza of medieval villages.After a week we have come to believe that this is all a marketing man's con.If you enjoy travelling in Cambodian conditions at Norwegian prices than Italy is the country for you.

Despite having a map and a GPS we can't help but spend a part of every day doing u-turns.Italian street signs are often 'delightfully creative'.They can simultaneously point in two opposite directions to a destination and you can almost guarantee that neither of those roads will take you there.

Our first nights in Italy were spent by the Med near San Remo.A lovely little campground with a very friendly manager.We pitched our tent on the terraces amongst some of the oldest olive trees possible and gazed in wonder at our panoramic views of the Autostrada and the local tip.We went for our early morning run and discovered at the top of a mountain an amazing hilltop village of twisting cobblestone roads and secret alleyways.The perfect place for a child's game of hide and seek.

Our final lunch by the Med saw us at a cafe on the docks of Imperia.More mega yachts who's crews are in matching uniforms and are scrubbing endlessly at their masters boats.The six story job with the helicopter on top won out.We were lucky to find some very convenient parking on the docks of the marina right outside the cafe.When we came to leave we found that the boom gates had dropped on our exit and we had to sit there and wait for somebody to enter who had the key.Hmmm, perhaps that parking spot was a little too convenient after all.

A few days touring northwards and we were in Alba.Never have we seen so many vines in one place as the valleys of the Piemonte.Arriving late in the day we shouted ourselves a night at a lovely b&b.Breakfast the next morning was a thing of wonder, similar to being shown a fully ladenbuffet table and then sat at it exclusively.More groans and belly stretching and we waddled to Potenza to check out the University of Gastronomic Science.

A day more north and we were at Lake Garder.Quite possibly the most beautiful place we have seen in Europe so far.Another lunch of cheap pizza (much better than it is reputed to be) and we finished the white knuckle ride to Arco.Everything you hear about Italian drivers is true.

Arco is a climber's paradise and we wished we had arrived a month or so earlier before the heat kicked in, unfortunately limestone and sweaty hands don't mix so well.We had a great couple of days but decided to move on when tidal wave of Germans moved in.So we set of for quieter climes but figured a quick visit to Venice was in order on the way out of the country.

Venice is amazing.Buildings that literally disappear into the water!No cars just canals, boats and foot traffic; and more tourists than possibly any other place on the planet at any given moment.Being a local in Venice must be more than a little challenging at times.Nevertheless we had a great visit and they have an amazing artisan community.

We have since hoped over the border and are now in the Karst Valley in a small town called Osp in Slovenia.So far the country has little traffic, bird song that can be heard and some of the friendliest people we have ever met in our life.We have rented a tiny apartment for a week overlooking a vineyard and we can walk into our bathroom barefoot....ahhhh