Monday 9th.

Happy Birthday Kate. A fairly short journey today to Levanto, on the Mediterranean coast. We did eighty miles on the autostrada at a cost of sixteen euros - you would have thought there would be a standard charge per kilometre but apparently not. 

We passed near to Carrara and could see the white marble quarries high on the mountains, looking like snow in summer; and Massa is just a collection of stone cutting yards. 

We arrived at our site, Pian di Picche, to find our pitch reserved with a sign saying Robertson. It is the best pitch on the site, shaded, near all the facilities and very near the bar. 

We took a stroll into town to check out the beach..

had a gelato ( pistachio and mango, me, pineapple, Kate) and strolled back through the back streets....

before calling in at the station to check out trains for the Cinque Terre walk. We are now back on site drinking beer, me, and water, Kate. We have the joy of free wifi at our pitch. 

Sunday night 8th.

Well!  Photographing fireflies is not easy. We had seen them last night after being tipped off by fellow homers. Fireflies are amazing and if you have never seen them you should stop what you are doing and come here to see them. I have seen glow-worms before but never these - tiny flashing LEDs moving slowly through the lower canopy. Hundreds of them! Astonishing and magical. 

But not really photographable by this amateur - where are the Bristol Wildlife Workshop when you need them. This was the best of a poor selection. 

Because they flash as they fly you get repeat images. But you really had to be there. I took some video too but it is like the optician's eye test where you have to say how many tiny flashes you can see. 

Sunday 8th.

We went back to San Gimi today for the morning. We walked through areas we had not seen yesterday and found our way down to the old public wash houses. 

 We went in to San Sebastio and admired the murals and the cool, cool cloisters. 

We found ourselves beside the Archeology Museum so went in - they also had an exhibition of photos by Elliott Errwitt. One set of displays showed the development of the town and showed where all the towers used to be. 

Then more back streets, where we found a very nice No. 6. - I love the way the plasterer has bent his line to avoid the number plate.  

Tonight, after dark, our friend from the next door van and I are taking our cameras into the the woods to try some wildlife photography - I will let you see the results. 

Saturday 7th.

We took the bus in to San Gimignano to avoid a walk back when it is extremely hot. 

This is San Gimi from the site...

This is San Gimi close up.....

The duomo was stunning - beautiful murals and all decked out for a wedding this afternoon. I don't know what the bride was wearing.

Friday 6th.

We called in at a nature reserve on the other side of the lake - we had been there years ago on a Naturetrek holiday. There was not much about but the junior grebes were much in evidence. 

I think I took this same photo years ago!

Then we made a flying visit to Siena. 

Now we are settled on our pitch near San Gimignano where a local football derby seems to be taking place. 

Thursday 5th.

A rest day. Lots of sitting around, a little light shopping at Famila and a walk in to town to get cash. I photographed a nice 32 for the collection. 

We have now finished our housework and loading ready for our move on. We are going to visit a wildlife sanctuary and Siena on our way to San Gimignano as it is a short journey. 

Now, where did I put my book?

Wednesday 4th.

We finally gave in to the temptation and went to Lidl!  Very nice bread and a better selection of cheeses than the other store. 

We then sat and read our books on the lawn looking out over the Lago. 

After a leisurely lunch ( of Lidl bread, Lidl cheese and Lidl salad) we headed in to town to try to make some sense of the boat timetable. A very friendly English speaking woman in the Gelateria ( sadly no Nutella flavour but Limone, pistachio and chocolate) pointed us in the right direction and we took a boat to Isola Maggiore. 

There is not a lot on the island, a few houses, a few restaurants and a few churches. The island is now dissappearing under olive groves and St John's Wort. 

With a few fennel groves in between. 

Even though the skies were threatening we got back to RosieMay without a spot of rain! (It's the Robertson effect, honest). 

Tuesday 3rd.

Today we cycled 500km. Well, it felt like that anyway. The cycle path round Lago di Trasimeno is much advertised and mentioned in all the adverts. It is not as good as they make it sound. 

We found the hidden entrance (deep in a building site) and headed off, hopefully. All went well for an hour or so...

Through lovely woods and close to the lake. 

Through several wonderful meadows full of wild flowers....

But then there was more Lago and less cycle path...

We took various (unmarked) farm tracks to get to the road to get us past the wet, boggy bits and then headed back down (unmarked) farm tracks and, at one point across a ploughed field, to get back to the path. 

But we persevered and found a lovely lunch spot at the head of the lake...

After we had explored the small town, examined the only aire we have seen ( with free electricity!) and photographed a few things....

we headed back under lowering skies.

But the Robertson effect worked and it only rained on the other side of the lake. 

Monday 2nd.

So here we are in Castiglione del Lago. We moved pitches as we had picked a shady spot that had not much seating space and was slightly too convenient for the bottle bank. So today, as vans moved off, we found a better shady spot with plenty of grass and a good view. Several of the vans surrounding us have left now - was it something I said? Now we just want the ones along the shore to leave!

We have been shopping in the local supermercato - we could have gone to Lidl but " we didn't get where we are today by shopping at Lidl". So we went to a lovely store called Famila. 

We have wifi but we have to log in and log out as it is a timed service. 

After lunch we walked in to Castiglione and walked through the walled town. 

We also visited the Pallazzo della Corgna and the attached Fortezza, reached via an enclosed walkway from the Pallazzo. 

Beautiful frescoes in all the rooms

and an impressive fortress. 

P.s.  We seem to have driven away another motorhome, the one that was blocking our view. ( I did mention the war, but I thought I had got away with it.)

Sunday 1st June.

We thought it would be nice to drive down the Adriatic coast towards our next destination. We thought wrong. Everybody else in Italy thought it would be nice to drive down the Adriatic coast. After several waits in long traffic queues around Chioggia we decided to head inland and take a different route. We had lunch in Imola under some trees in the middle of town - not photogenic. Then we headed up a lovely mountain road full of corners and hairpin bends. First up then down. Sadly when we got down we found a gendarme telling everyone that there was a three hour tailback into Firenze and we had to go back up the hill and down the hill and around all those corners again. As Kate said, at least we got to see the lovely view from both directions. As we were so late we gritted our teeth and loosened our wallets and took to the autostrada for eighty miles. But it only cost €10.70!

So now we are safely on our pitch near Lago di Trasimeno. 

Saturday 31st.

We are back in Venice again. We have just been up the campanile of St. Giorgio and took some lovely panoramas of the view. Now, after a slow vaporetto ride, we are in the ghetto awaiting a pizza. 

Tomorrow we head off down country to Lake Trasimeno, our next stop.  

Friday 30th.

Today is the day of the vaporetto strike - the tour boats seem to be taking people across so it is probably just as busy over there. But we went out on the bikes to explore the local area. Very flat so ideal cycling country. We went to the point where you look across the lagoon to Venice. 

Then we explored the dunes - an area sealed off to traffic to encourage flora and fauna. We saw some good birds - a shrike and a jay and heard orioles and hoopoes. And we saw our first orchid!

And several 'don't knows'

This afternoon we headed up the lagoon side of this spit of land. Very quiet lanes and dedicated cycle lanes. 

Katespotted a shrike sitting on a telegraph wire bad I spotted a hoopoe sitting twenty feet away from the shrike. 

In the evening we were treated to an amazing firework display over Venice - well it was a thunder storm really but incredible lightning that went on for several hours. Note to self - find out how to photograph lightning and buy a waterproof camera!