Italy – DJmotortouring

Figline Valdarno (Tuscany), Italy May 2025 (Tour 11)

Being just 15 miles south east of Florence, the historic town of Figline Valadarno is only about 85 miles from Torre del Lago Puccini but; in terms of the weather, it was a million miles away as we arrived. The sun was shining; there was barely a cloud in the sky and; it was warm. Moreover, it was set to stay that way for the forseeable future.

I know I’ve been rather going on about campsites during the last weeks (which is rich coming from someone who used them only rarely in his early tours) and I’m sorry about that but; Vanya once again did us proud with the 5 Star Hu Camping Norcenni Girasole Club just outside of Figline Valadarno. I’ll write more about the Norcenni Girasole at the end of this blog (such that you can skip it and move on if you are not particularly interested in camp sites). For now it will suffice to say it is to be listed as an Excellent Campsite – only our fifth in the last 7 years.

Figline Valdarno is, for me, a quintessential Italian town; not necessarily for it’s landmark attractions and monuments (although it does have a couple of places of interest) but; for it’s pure Italianism. It’s one of those places where I’m content to lounge in the main square over a coffee; watching and listening to old men noisily playing cards at tables outside the cafe-bars and middle aged women chatting and laughing with neighbours by the fountains or haggling good humouredly with shopkeepers over the price of tomatoes – all of it so very Italian. I did just that for an hour. I sat in the early morning sunshine, sipping coffee outside a bar on Figline Valdano’s main square (the Piazza Marsilio Ficino) and revelled in it.

The Piazza Marsilio Ficino (named after a famous 15th century humanist philosopher whom, I confess, I have never heard of) is in itself one of the town’s principal attractions. It’s a large rectangular piazza (more like a trapezium really) which was designed to hold a large farmer’s market. It is almost entirely surrounded by arcades except for access points and one corner where the town’s 13th century Collegiate Church of Santa Maria holds pride of place. I cannot say for sure that the piazza is still used as a market place (it probably is) but the arcades are home now to a handful of bars, a few shops, some offices and, at the opposite end of the piazza to the church, a former 14th century hospital (the Spedale Serristori) which closed in 1890.

Alongside the Piazza Marsilio Ficino, near the church, is another much smaller town square, Piazza Bianchi. This holds the 14th century Palazzo Pretorio with it’s attendant tower. Originally home to the town council, it is now used to store town records but, for a short period in the 19th century, it was also used as a prison. At the foot of the tower is a small chapel dedicated to the town’s soldiers who fell in WWI.

Another significant building in the town is the Teatro Comunale Garibaldi. This 19th century theatre, named after Guiseppe Garibaldi, is used to host theatrical and/or musical performances and can accommodate an audience of about 500. Judging by the many old posters adorning it’s walls, especially on the stairwell, this theatre has hosted some quite spectacular events since it’s inauguration in 1872. I was unable to access the auditorium. The entrance was closed whilst, inside, a pianist was rehearsing a movement from Beethoven’s 9th (the Choral Symphony). It was a joy standing outside listening for a short while – an Ode to Joy, I hear you say. Sorry.

Teatro Comunale Garibaldi & Part of the Town Walls

Inside the Garibaldi Theatre (not my photo)

Outside, to one side of the theatre and underneath some of the old town walls, is a fenced off area which is used as a summer arena (music and theatre productions) and can accommodate an audience of up to 180 but, again, I couldn’t gain access.

I wandered the town for a while but, because I had spent so much time ‘people watching’ on the Piazza Marcilio Ficino and ‘eavesdropping’ on the pianist in the Teatro Comunale Garibaldi, I didn’t get to see much else but; I don’t regret a minute of it. I suspect we’ll return at some time in the future.

Okay, a little about Hu Norcenni Girasole Camping. It really is first class. From the moment we started the check in process until the moment we left, it was almost perfect. We booked in for two nights and almost immediately increased it to three so that Vanya could enrol in a cookery class and perfect her Ravioli. We would have stayed longer except we had already lingered in France for 7 days at Esterel Caravaning and we needed move on, deeper into Italy. Having said all that (and this is a postscript), we returned to Hu Norcenni Girasole for another night when retracing our steps through Italy.

The site is super pet friendly and has all the facilities you could need and more. It provides a regular shuttle service into Figline Valdarno and coach trips to Florence and Siena when demand warrants it. We have stayed at three Hu Campsites in total and all are good but Hu Norcenni Girasole is very much a step above the others. The service ethos from it’s staff is as good as I have seen anywhere (and that includes some of the world’s top hotels) and it operates two features which set it apart from the others: a well stocked enoteca and well informed sommelier (where we chose to drink wine most nights, in preference to the more crowded and noisier bars) and; a top chef who offered cookery lessons to small groups. Under Chef Mario’s tutelage (the chef has worked all over the world and even cooked for the late Queen Elizabeth II), Vanya was able to perfect a home made ricotta and spinach ravioli which even I enjoyed (and I’m not a great one for pasta and have never been keen on spinach).

Oh! And the cooking…

Torre del Lago Puccini (Tuscany), Italy May 2025 (Tour 11)

It was late afternoon when we left Sanremo and I was pleased I didn’t have to drive too far to our next stop, Camping Bella Vista, just 40 miles east near Alabenga in Liguria. We’d stay there just the one night and then head down through Tuscany to Torre del Lago Puccini. The weather forecasts for the north of Italy looked unsettled for the next couple of days but were more promising further south. As it happened, the weather in both Liguria and Tuscany proved awful over the following days and we very much missed out on Albenga and, even more disappointing, Torre del Lago Puccini.

A quick note regarding Camping Bella Vista: It’s in the countryside just a short drive from Albenga. It is a welcoming and tidy little campsite. The couple who run it (a friendly local chap and his Dutch girlfriend) employ a small army of Dutch students to help out and all speak very good English (which makes life so much easier in Italy). The site would have been included in my list of recommended campsites had there been a restaurant or foodstore either on site or in the immediate area but there’s nothing within walking distance (as yet). The bar was okay and, while we were there, I was introduced to a couple of the local wines (from the ‘La Vecchia Cantina’ winery) but, man cannot live on alcohol alone. I was tempted to stop off the next morning to buy a couple of bottles of the winery’s Scuvea Rossese red wine but La Vecchia Cantina is inaccessible to anything other than a small Fiat and, anyway, we really wanted to get on to warmer weather.

The next morning we drove south into Tuscany and paused on the Versilia Coast at Torre del Lago Puccini. I was really excited at the prospect of going to Torre del Lago Puccini. The town was originally named Torre del Lago (after the tower which once stood on Lake Massaciuccoli) but; in 1938 the town changed it’s name to Torre del Lago Puccini in honour of the great Giacomo Puccini (one of my favourite composers – La Boheme, Tosca, Madam Butterfly, Turandot, etc) who lived there from 1891 until his death in 1924. The tower is long gone. It is said Puccini built his house (Villa Puccini) on the site of the old tower but no one knows for sure. What is certain is that when settling in the area, Puccini described it as a “real paradise on earth” and; he lived there for the rest of his life and; he wrote almost all of his great works there. Villa Puccini is now a museum dedicated to Puccini and his works and he’s buried there (together, I think, with his wife and son).

Lake Massaciuccoli (not my photo – it was pouring)

Every summer Torre del Lago holds a Puccini Festival in a specially built open-air theatre (the Gran Teatro all’Aperto Giacomo Puccini) which was built alongside his villa overlooking Lake Massaciuccoli. It holds just 3,300 people but wouldn’t that be an event to attend?!?

Unfortunately, it rained almost the whole time we were in Torre del Lago Puccini and we got to see next to nothing of the area but, keep your fingers crossed, the weather forecast just a little to the east is excellent. Figline Valdarno here we come.

Sanremo (Liguria), Italy May 2025 (Tour 11)

We awoke to the most perfect weather. The sun was shining, the sky was clear of clouds. There was no wind and 23 degrees centigrade was forecast. Great. Vanya found a decent looking campsite through ACSI for later in the day (Camping Bella Vista in Alabenga). I called them to check availability (the lady at the other end of the phone laughed out loud at my Italian) and; before you knew it we were continuing on our way to Italy with smiles on our faces. Yesterday’s bad weather was nothing but a dim and distant memory.

Vanya wanted to stop by Sanremo for lunch (a town just over the border in Italy that she had never seen). I’d visited Sanremo (often incorrectly written as San Remo) during my first tour in the Van and didn’t enjoy it much but; that could have been because snow was falling at the time. This time the weather was so different and I really enjoyed the place.

Once again Park4Night did us proud, leading us through Sanremo to a huge pay carpark down on the seafront towards the town’s centre. We had to do a couple of circuits of the carpark to find an entrance big enough for the Van to pass through but we made it. We orientated ourselves using the old Russian Orthodox Church (which was visible from where we parked the Van) and were delighted to discover we were only a few minute’s walk from Sanremo’s famous casino, which is about as central as you can get in the town.

The first place to visit had to be the Russian Orthodox Church, a thought provoking reminder of the Russian aristocracy which used to frequent Sanremo in their thousands before the Russian Revolution of 1917. Set amongst some amazing belle epoque buildings the tiny Russian Orthodox Church of Christ the Saviour, Saint Seraphim and Saint Catherine (to use it’s full name) is a joy to visit. The church was commissioned by the Tsarina Maria Ferodovna, widow of Alexander III and mother to the ill fated Czar Nicholas II although; construction didn’t commence until 1912 (well after her death) and; because of the Russian Revolution in 1917, it was never quite finished. With it’s 5 multi-coloured onion domes surmounted by Russian three armed crosses (and a belltower), the church is easily recognisable. The insides of the orthodox churches are usually very colourful. However, the interior of this one is neither as large nor as spectacular as some I have seen (it’s pale blue walls are smothered with icons) but it is still remarkable.

From the Orthodox Church we walked east along the Corso della Imperatrice (named after Maria Ferodovna) to the mostly pedestrianised Via Giacomo Matteotti which is Sanremo’s best shopping street in terms of fashion stores and designer brands. This street fronts Sanremo’s old town which is known as La Pigna – Italian for pine cone (presumably because of the way the streets are set out?). Turn inland into any one of the narrow streets or alleys which feed Via Giacomo Matteotti and you are into Sanremo’s old town.

On our way to Via Giacomo Matteotti, at the end of Corso della Imperatrice, we passed the elegant Art Nouveau building which is the Sanremo Municipal Casino. This is Italy’s answer to the Monte Carlo Casino and, except for a short period during WWII when it was closed by order of the Italian King Victor Emmanuel III , it has been open since it’s inauguration in January 1905. Entrance into the casino is free but, dressed as casually as we were and having our dogs with us, we didn’t even consider entering the building but, by all accounts, it is as impressive inside as outside (complete with Murano Glass chandeliers).

La Pigna is a maze of narrow streets and alleyways and is as pretty a medieval old town as many we have seen on our tours and it’s not as expensive as you might think. Using Vanya’s famous ‘pizza cost reference system’, pizzas in San Remo come in at about 8 Euros for a Margharita which is below average for medium to large towns in the north of Italy.

San Siro Cathedral sits at the lower end of La Pigna and, although there is some dispute over it’s age (I’ve read it is of 9th, 12th and 13th century construction), it is supposedly the oldest religious building in Sanremo. Having said that I have also read that most of the current building stems from the 17th century. Behind the San Siro Cathedral is the famous central Piazza San Siro and it was a hive of activity as we passed through but, honestly, it’s nothing to write home about.

At the top of La Pigna, at the highest point of the town (even above the enchanting Regina Elena Gardens), is another religious building; the 14th century Sanctuary of the Madonna della Costa with it’s famous wooden statues. It’s definitely worth a visit.

I mentioned the Regina Elena Gardens. Sanremo is known as the city of flowers and these gardens, together with those at Villa Ormond on Corso Cavallotti (to the east of the town), are a must-see even for those with absolutely no horticulteral knowledge (such as me). The views over the town from the oasis which is the Regina Elena Gardens are spectacular and the Garden at Villa Ormond is full of exotic, rare plants; some of which are massive (they remind me of Poolewe Gardens).

We didn’t get to see the extreme west of the city, where the old harbour and the 17th century Santa Tecla Fortress are located (Nala, bless her, was worn out) but; the car park we used is perfectly placed to visit the whole town and that includes the nearby harbour.

We did however get time to take some lunch and test out Vanya’s ‘pizza cost reference system’…

A final observation about Sanremo. I couldn’t have been more wrong about the city following my very brief visit during Tour 1. It has so much to offer. I highly recommend it as a place to visit and; it really hasn’t lost any of it’s belle epoque glamour. We’ll definitely be back.

Pietra Ligure (Liguria), Italy September 2023 (Tour 8)

Leaving Lago Le Tamerici we drove north; making for Camping dei Fiori, a campsite in Pietra Ligure which I think is part of the Pian dei Boschi hotel complex. We would stay in Pietra Ligure for just one night as we were due in the small French town of Monteux the following day. Vanya had booked us into Monteux’s Hotel Le Blason De Provence, a highly recommended boutique hotel just outside of Monteux on the road to Carpentras. We were going to spoil ourselves for two or three days but more about that later. First, let me write a little about Pietra Ligure. I really liked the place and will most certainly return.

Pietra Ligure is a popular seaside town, half way between Genoa and San Remo, on the Riviera Ponente (part of the Italian Riviera) and it is named after it’s castle perched up on an imposing limestone cliff known as La Pietra (which translates as the stone or the rock in English). There has been a castle on this rock since the time of the Roman Empire but the current structure dates from the 16th century.

It took just 10 minutes to walk from Camping dei Fiori to the beach and another 5 minutes to reach Pietra Ligure’s historic old town (the largely medieval Borgo Vecchio)… and what a little gem it is!

Hemmed in between the sandy beach and a series of low hills which form a backdrop along much of this coast, the old town is built mostly of a pastel coloured stone and comprises numerous narrow shaded alleys (known as ‘caruggi’ in this part of the world), many of which are topped with arches and lead through or to small squares or courtyards. Interspersed with shops and cafe-bars and almost entirely pedestrianised, the caruggi are brimming with character and lend the town a very local flavour and feeling. I love them.

At the centre of the Borgo Vecchio, on the town’s main square (the Piazza San Nicolo di Bari) is an elegant, cream coloured, Romanesque style church – the Basilica of San Nicolo di Bari. Inside its beautifully carved doors this church is sumptuously decorated with sculptures and stunning artwork. The inside of some churches that I have seen during these tours have been overelaborate, almost gaudy, but this is a jewel of a church and no photos I took can do it justice.

Pietra Ligure is not a large town (just 8,000 residents outside of summer) and it didn’t take long to explore the Borgo Vecchio. I knew too that I would be returning later in the day with Vanya and so, after tearing myself away from the Basilica, I made my way on the beach and then on to the Borgo Nuovo (the new town).

I was most impressed with the beach area. There’s a long sandy blue flag beach, a sizeable pier from which numerous anglers seemed to be enjoying themselves and a wide seafront promenade lined with palm trees. Most important, given Italy’s proclivity towards private beaches (regular readers of this blog will know that I abhor private beaches), Pietra Ligure has determined that a large central part of the beach should be open to the public. Moreover, the town has at least one and possibly two dog friendly beaches complete with dog showers. Respect!

The next day, we were moving on into France. Sadly, we didn’t have time before leaving to return just a few kilometres back down the coast to visit two of Italy’s most beautiful villages – the Borghi piu Belli d’Italia of Borgio Verezzi (with it’s Valdemino Caves) and Finalborgo (with it’s annual medieval festival) but, we’ll be back.

On to Monteux…

Lago Le Tamerici (Tuscany), Italy September 2023 (Tour 8)

It was time to head north. We were always going to be on a tight schedule this tour and, anyway, towards the end of September the majority of campsites in the south of Italy tend to close for winter. France beckoned. Vanya picked out a small campsite (44 campervan pitches) back in Tuscany halfway between Pisa and Livorno and so it was that we set off for Camping Lago Le Tamerici.

Camping Lake Temerici is an outstanding little camp site on the side of a small lake in the Coltano Nature Reserve – large grassy pitches, decent facilities and a warm welcome from the proprietors. There’s also a very good restaurant on site which for the most part relies on their own locally produced meat and vegetables (just as well because there is very little else in the immediate area).

We were fortunate to arrive on a warm sunny Sunday afternoon. The place was packed with day trippers but we were assured the great majority would leave before sunset and we need only reserve a place in the restaurant if we wanted a table on the porch overlooking the lake. I did just that and, after updating my Face Book account over a large glass of the local artisan beer, went off for a short stroll around the lake.

It turned out to be a beautiful evening with a great sunset but, the food and wine (a Tuscan Vermentino) were such that I couldn’t be bothered to move from the restaurant to take any photos.

Campeggio Lago le Tamerici proved a great find and we would certainly return. Nearby Pisa does little for me but Livorno I do want to see more of and this campsite works for me.

Anzio (Lazio), Italy September 2023 (Tour 8)

We drove to Anzio by way of Orvieto in Umbria.

Anzio is a fascinating medium sized town of some 50,000 inhabitants on the Tyrrhenian Sea, about 30 miles south of Rome. In the Summer, it is very popular with Roman holidaymakers (some 40% of houses in Anzio are second homes to people from Rome) but, outside of those months it is usually quiet. The town, with it’s sandy beaches and a pretty little harbour (a departure point for a ferry and hydroplane service to the nearby Pontine Islands, although Formia is the primary port in this regard) was very quiet as we arrived.

We had the dogs with us and were therefore unable to make the trip to the Pontine Islands but that is an archipelago we will most certainly visit in the future. Only 2 of the 6 islands are occupied all year round (the islands of Ponza and Ventotene) but Palmarola and Zannone are inhabited during the summer months and all six islands have stories to tell; even the deserted Santo Stefano (a penal colony until 1965) and Gavi (now a wildlife refuge).

Anzio is steeped in ancient and modern history (with a fair bit in between although the place fell into decline during the Middle Ages). At the time of the Roman Empire, the combined towns of Anzio and Nettuno were known as Antium and was the birthplace of two Julio-Claudian Emperors (Caligula who reigned 37-41 AD and Nero who reigned 54-68 AD). During his reign, Nero developed an enormous, magnificently decorated palace in Antium (the Villa Imperiale di Nerone or Nero’s Villa). Covered in a precious white marble it stretched 800 metres along the beach and 300 metres inland. No doubt with the palace in mind, a subsequent emperor, Hadrian, described Antium as one of the prettiest places in the Empire. There’s not a great deal remaining of the villa but it’s footprint is largely intact.

*Artist’s impression of the Villa Imperiale di Nerone, built on Anzio’s beaches*.

*Nero’s bronze statue on the Anzio beachfront (Claudio Valenti 2010)*

Anzio’s beaches once again became a centre of attention in January 1944 when during WW2, “Operation Shingle” saw troops from the USA, Great Britain and Canada invade them with a view to compromising the German 10th Army and liberating Rome. After a promising start (i.e. a 7 mile beachhead established and an open road to Rome for the loss of just 13 Allied dead) the invasion stalled and developed into one of the more savage battles of the war (more than 43,000 Allied casualties) with Lieutenant General Mark W Clark and his subordinate Major General John P Lucas combining to totally screw the operation up. Lucas (described by Winston Churchill as a ‘Stranded Whale’) was relieved of his command and sent back to the USA after sitting on the beach for 8 days and doing nothing while the Germans rushed their 14th Army south to support their 10th Army. Clark too should have been returned to the USA for tolerating Lucas’ inertia and then deliberately ignoring the orders of his own Commanding Officer (General Sir Harold Alexander) as he sought to retrieve the situation. Lucas’ replacement, Major General Lucian Truscott of the US 3rd Division wrote that “had Clark held loyally to General Alexander’s insructions… and not changed the direction of my attack… the strategic objectives of Anzio would have been accomplished in full”. The US military historian Carlo D’Este was more critical saying that Clark’s actions in disregarding Alexander was “as militarily stupid as it was insubordinate”. Clark kept his post. No surprises there since he was a close personal friend of Dwight Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of Allied Forces.

Except for a few words about the war cemeteries I perhaps need to draw a line under the Battle of Anzio. It will suffice to say there is a great deal in the town and it’s immediate surroundings to remind any visitor of Imperial Rome and the Anzio landings of 1944.

There are three war cemeteries in the area immediately surrounding Anzio; two British & Commonwealth cemeteries (‘Anzio War Cemetery’ and ‘Beach Head War Cemetery’) and the USA cemetery at Nettuno (now known as ‘The Sicily-Rome American Cemetery’ after US cemeteries in Salerno and Sicily were closed).

I took the time to visit the well maintained Anzio War Cemetery and during my walk back to a beach car park where I’d left Vanya with Nala and Beanie, I passed the charming 17th century Villa Adele, a significant part of which is now a museum, the Museo dello Sbarco di Anzio. Initially,the museum’s focus was directed towards the area’s archaeological finds but, perhaps unsurprisingly, four rooms have since been dedicated to the Battle for Anzio; a room each for the USA, Britain & the Commonwealth, Germany and of course Italy. A small part of the museum is centred around a Lieutenant Eric Fletcher Waters, a British officer who landed at Anzio and lost his life in the ensuing battle. His son, Roger Waters, grew up to be a co-founder, bass player and principal lyricist of Pink Floyd and; one of Pink Floyd’s singles, “When the Tigers Broke Free” (originally entitled “Anzio, 1944”) tells the story of his fathers death at Anzio.

Close to Anzio War Cemetery is the Basilica di Santa Teresa. That’s Saint Teresa de Lisieux (the Saint I wrote about in my blog on Alencon earlier this year – Tour 7) and not to be confused with Saint Teresa of Avila or Saint Teresa of Calcutta or any one of the other Saint Teresas’s). The Basilica, which was built between 1926 and 1939, is very imposing from the outside (especially having regard to it’s huge belltower) and it is supposedly very impressive on the inside too but a wedding ceremony was underway as I arrived and I wasn’t inclined to hang around.

One church I was able to access is the Chiesa dei Santi Pio e Antonio on Anzio’s main square, the Piazza Pia. Having been consecrated in 1885, this neo classical style church is a little older than the Basilica di Santi Teresa and, if not so imposing, is far prettier.

Back at the Van, Vanya and I planned our next move and we determined to drive north along the coast and seek out a good seafood restaurant. This whole area is justifiably famous for it’s fresh fish. We found the perfect place some 16 miles away on a wide sandy beach in Torvaianica. The food, the setting and the mood were truly great. From Vanya’s perspective however that all seemed to fade into nothing against the new drink she discovered at the restaurant – a Prosecco & Lemon Sorbet. Honestly, she was in seventh heaven. I don’t think we’ve heard the last of that drink…

Bolsena (Lazio), Italy September 2023 (Tour 8)

Wow! Bolsena really impressed me, notwithstanding the overcast weather. It is probably crowded with tourists during the summer but during mid September the place was quite empty (and yet all facilities were still open). We timed our visit well.

Bolsena is a small town of less than 5,000 people located on the northeast shore of Lake Bolsena which, with a depth of 500 feet and a diameter of 7.5 miles, is the largest volcanic lake in Europe. The crystal clear waters of the lake teem with fish but is so clean it is safe to drink. There are a couple of small islands towards the centre of the lake, L’Isola Bisentina and L’Isola Martana, but the inclement weather precluded any boat trip on our part. They are privately owned islands but boat trips are still possible at least during the summer months.

Many of the villages around Lake Bolsena, particularly Marta on the south side of the lake, are fishing villages where pike, perch, eel, various species of bass and catfish are caught. Bolsena also supports a number of fishing boats but in summer the town’s main source of income is from tourism and that is reflected by the number of boats in the harbour offering lake tours.

Bolsena is very much a town of two halves. Down by the waterside is the more stylish, modern half of the town with it’s many hotels, restaurants, holiday homes and lakeside leisure activities while behind that area, clinging to the surrounding hillside, is the attractive old medieval town.

These old town streets, filled with dark stone houses reminiscent of a medieval fishing village, are as interesting and full of character as any in Italy and walking them it is easy to believe you have slipped back in time.

At the very top of the town is the 13th century Castle Rocca Balsena. By the 15th century this imposing castle (it towers over Bolsena) was in an advanced state of decay but the Monaldeschi family committed to it’s restoration and as a consequence the finished product was renamed the Castello Rocca Monaldeschi. The castle currently houses the Territorial Museum of Lake Bolsena and while I wasn’t too impressed with the museum contents (there doesn’t seem to be any real focus to the contents – they are as diverse as Etruscan pottery, medieval paintings and fish from the lake), it is well worth the 5 Euro entrance fee for the views from the battlements alone.

Having explored the castle and checked out the museum I was keen to visit the local church, the Basilica of Santa Cristina but it was closed. It is said that the church was the scene of a miracle in 1263 when a Bohemian priest, in doubt about the doctrine of transubstantiation (i.e. the conversion of the eucharistic bread and wine into the substance of the body and blood of Christ) was convinced of it’s truth by the miraculous appearance of drops of blood on the Host he was consecrating at a mass in the crypt of the church. The marvel is commemorated in the Vatican by Raphael’s fresco “The Miracle at Bolsena’ and the Pope, Urban IV, subsequently built Orvieto Cathedral where a blood stained altar cloth from the Basilica of Santa Cristina is stored.

While exploring the old town I found a small restaurant-bar where we would take dinner later that evening and I spent what was left of the afternoon in that bar sampling the local white wine (a Lazio ‘Vermentino’) until it was time to collect Vanya.

Despite not being able to walk at all well (her hip was playing up) Vanya was as entranced with Bolsena as I was and the meal was great. Oh, and Vanya loved the Vermentino although, upon the recommendation of the waiter, we switched from the Lazio Vermentino to one from Tuscany. It proved to be better.

A little bit more about the Vermentino because I don’t doubt that we’ll be taking a fair few bottles back to the UK. It’s a hardy yet thin skinned white wine grape which thrives in warmer climates because of it’s tendency to ripen quite late in the growing season. It is believed the grape originated in Piedmont but, because it is easy to grow and resistant to drought and disease, it is now found all around the world (particularly Provence in France where it is known as Rolle) and across a broad swathe of Italy (Piedmont, Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio and Sardinia). We’ve since tried quite a few and so far I favour those from Bolgheri in Tuscany with some from Sardinia coming a close second.

And then it was back to the Van, passing all kinds of critters on the way, one of which (down by the lake) frightened the life out of Vanya. She didn’t half scream. Lol.

We’d have stayed longer in Bolsena except the facilities at the campsite we were using (Camping Internazionale Il Lago) are so badly in need of modernising. We love the location (in terms of it’s proximity to the lake and the town centre) but we wanted a decent shower block.

Anzio next…

Santa Lucia (Tuscany), Italy September 2023 (Tour 8)

This will probably be my shortest post ever.

We were heading south to Pitigliano. Not sure how but I got it all wrong and we ended up missing Pitigliano and stopping at Santa Lucia where there really is nothing except a Campsite -cum-Lorry Stop. Having said that, the campsite owners were very welcoming and operated a decent bar-restaurant which made the overnight stay fine but the next morning we retraced our steps looking for Pitigliano and I again got it wrong. Disaster.

*The only building in Santa Lucia other than those that made up the campsite complex*

I have enjoyed and been impressed by a fair few hilltop towns and villages in Tuscany (Montalcino, Montepulciano, San Quirico d’Orca and Volterra, to name but a few) and, from what I have heard, Pitigliano may well prove to be among the best of them but, it will have to wait. We gave up on the place and headed for Bolsena in Lazio Region.

*Pitigliano. Not my photo because I failed to find the place. Next time!!*

We paused at the McArthur Glen Designer Outlet near Berberino di Mugello and drove through part of Orvieto in Umbria Region but at best this was a travel day…

… and then we arrived at Bolsena in Lazio and everything changed for the better…

Asolo (Veneto), Italy September 2023 (Tour 8)

Arrived in Italy and made our way to Bolso del Grappa through Vidor and Valdobbiadene. We were booked into Camping Santa Felicita together with friends Craig and Julie who were visiting Italy in their own van. We fancied a return to the Prosecco Hills and, in particular, the pretty little town of Asolo which is a relaxing little place in the foothills of the Dolomites and fully deserving of it’s “I Borghi più belli d’Italia” status. We used the Santa Felicia campsite as a base when last in the area and there’s nothing wrong with the place.

It was pleasant meeting up with Craig and Julie and for the most part we really enjoyed that first evening at the campsite notwithstanding the incredible storm which struck as we were eating in the restaurant adjacent to the camp site. It wasn’t so much the thunder and lightning which made the storm so memorable but the torrential rain. It was deluge which for a short while at least matched any of the monsoons I have witnessed in Africa and the Far East.

It was later, after the storm had subsided and we returned to the Vans, that we learned the full cost of that evening. The awning on Craig’s vehicle had been half torn from the side of his van. It was totally ruined. If that wasn’t bad enough, the next day both Julie and I, despite eating different dishes at the nearby restaurant, were both very sick. I’ll not say any more about that but I very much doubt we’ll be eating in that restaurant again.

*Great start to the evening at the restaurant*…

Next morning we all made our way in the Van to Asolo. We parked in the large municipal car park, the Parcheggio Coperto ‘Cipressina’ (free parking except at weekends and bank holidays) and strolled up towards the town centre using Via Forestuzzo and Via Robert Browning.

When last in Asolo I intended walking to the 12th century castle ruins (La Rocca) which tower over the town but Vanya and I so much enjoyed sitting in the sun drinking chilled Prosecco that we left it too late. Together with Craig, I was determined to put that right this time. We enjoyed a glass of Prosecco with Vanya and Julie at one of the bars on the picturesque Piazza Garibaldi (once known as the Piazza Maggiore) and then, leaving the ladies to enjoy a second glass, we set off on the short steep walk up to the castle.

We made it (after a bit of to-ing and fro-ing) but ‘Sod’s law’, La Rocca was closed! There was a sign at it’s entrance advising it is open to the public only at weekends and bank holidays. We could have done with that sign at the bottom of the hill. No matter, the exercise will have done us good and we could still enjoy the views over the surrounding countryside.

*The view south from the entrance* *to the La Rocca*

Upon our return from the castle, there was plenty of time for a wander around the town…

*View from Castle Caterina Cornaro*, *not to be confused with La Rocca*

*The Zen Fountain (on Via Robert Browning)*

… and this time, unlike before, I was able to access the church, the Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta.

The Santa Maria Assunta does not rank amongst the most beautiful of Catholic churches and neither, I think, does it have a great deal of history (it’s all relative) but it does have a very good copy of Titian’s ‘Assumption of the Virgin’ the original of which we saw in a church in Venice many years ago. This copy is by Lorenzo Lotto but, to be honest, I know almost nothing about him.

The following day was spent driving around the Prosecco Hills, pausing briefly at Vadobbiadene and Vidor for a drink but that meal of a couple of days ago was still hurting and I was in no mood for either eating or drinking. Shame because this is a beautiful part of Italy with some great and very unique local produce. I’m talking drinks and food.

The Veneto Region is most famous for it’s Prosecco. I went into some detail about this fine sparkling white wine in a previous blog so; I’ll not risk repeating myself now except to say that Prosecco is made predominantly with the local Glera grape and Asolo Prosecco was granted DOCG status back in 2009. I don’t think I have ever mentioned that Asolo Prosecco was the first Prosecco to include an ‘Extra Brut’ category? I find that category too dry but Vanya adores it.

Other drinks which simply have to be mentioned when talking about the Veneto Region are Grappa (originated in Bassano de Grappa in the Vicenza Province of Veneto), Amarone (my favourite Italian red wine produced in Verona Province) and Aperol (this bright orange liqueur was created in Padua in 1919 and is used to make the Aperol Spritz – one part soda, two parts Aperol and 3 parts Prosecco).

So far as food is concerned, the Veneto Region favours polenta and rice over pasta (and I can relate with that). This is true across all of the Veneto Region and most especially across the province of Treviso (of which Asolo is a part). One very famous Italian dessert which originated in Treviso is Tiramisu, first created by chef Roberto Linguanotto in the 1960’s.

Anyway, enough about food and drink – I’m off for a beer.

Sasso di Bordighera (Liguria), Italy August 2022 (Tour 6)

The dogs were suffering in this year’s very hot weather (for weeks, even in the foothills of the Alps, the temperatures have been up in the high thirties) and so we decided to make our way west from Italy to the north of Spain where they are currently in the mid twenties. Sasso di Bordighere was chosen by Vanya because it took us quite a way west (into Liguria and within a few miles of the French border) and because the campsite reads very well. My gosh, what happened to all those wild camps I used to do in the Balkans? We seem to be using campsites nearly all the time now.

I’m not complaining; leastways not about A Bunda which was the name of the campsite Vanya had chosen. It is a small, shaded, tranquil site carved out of an olive grove near the tiny hamlet of Sasso di Bordighera. It offers decent sized pitches and wonderful views across the valley and the guy who runs it with his family, Alessandro, is as friendly and helpful as they come. He’s particularly proud of his gardens (with good reason) and the scent of rosemary is everywhere.

The views across the valley from A Bunda’s terrace were pleasing and best enjoyed with a bottle of Barolo

As for Sasso di Bordighera itself, it is an ancient fortified village high up on a rocky ridge, overlooking (part of) the town of Bordighera some 4 kms away on the coast. Sasso is Italian for stone or rock; hence it’s name. The village is little more than a hamlet with just 200 inhabitants, surrounded by olive groves and orchards. There is a tiny shop, a church and, just at the edge of the village, a small restaurant.

The fortified nature of the village is clearly evident

These three photos are of the principal alley into and out of the village

The Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul

The views from the village towards the coast are stunning; those from the restaurant, even more so. I reserved a table for us on the restaurant terrace for that very evening.

We enjoyed it very much.