Day 23 - Lecco, Italy

30/06/2016

I was pleased to be hitting the road and escaping the commercial campsite with kids screaming everywhere, it was too much I needed to get out. I tried to have a quick research of a campsite but I just wanted to move on so I entered Lake Como into the satnav and hit the road. Once I was closer I decided to just use the satnav function to find me a campsite, I wasn't impressed when it was directing me off the big motorway and underneath it but I was surprised to find one of the best sites I've been to. This was purely down to location as I could almost touch the lake from the van. I did discover that this actually wasn't quite Lake Como, but I didn't care.

Room with a view

I decided to spend two nights here doing some exploring on the kayak seeing as this was the first time using it on this trip. I paddled up and down the lake and then dug out the slackline for a session followed by a cycle around the lake to find what restaurants are about but I couldn't find much other than the Chinese I spotted when driving in.

Kayaking in Lecco, Italy

Day 22, Lake Garda, Italy

29/07/2016

I woke up absolutely buzzing even if it was to the sound of screeching kids but I couldn't wait to go Parasailing. I headed down in the morning to check if all was still going ahead as they mentioned at least 3 people are needed to weigh the boat down when someone is being towed. After a quick chat it was clear that other people were down to do it but not until 3pm which was fine with me, I could dig out my clothes to do a sink wash then give the van a good clean inside.

When I arrived at 3 pm we walked down this narrow pontoon that was sunk underwater, at the end was a small floating pontoon which 6 of us climbed onto and they pulled us by rope out to the larger floating deck. When we were all loaded up and headed out the other people I was with started to pull out life jackets and harnesses from under the seating area. The driver and his colleague then proceeded to give instructions on how to put on the harness and life jacket, however I was the only one who didn't understand Italian. Of course the instructions were given in Italian, so all I could do was follow exactly what the others did. I was chatting to a German couple and luckily they were kind enough to translate some of the gestures back to me and I hoped for the best.

Parasailing across Lake Garda!

We had been driving out for a while and I noticed the parachute was about to be released so I decided to start setting up the gopro ready. I had just finished mounting it when I realised the parachute was up and the driver spoke up and pointed at me saying 'you're up first' and pointed at the parachute fully open. I jumped up grabbing the Gopro and clipped in, as they started to release me out it juddered and the gopro slid around on the mount which took me by surprise. Once I was up it was unbelievable, it felt so high up and the views were fantastic.

I returned to the van buzzing still despite the same kids still screaming and started packing ready to hit the road the next morning. Next stop, Lake Como!

Day 21 - Lake Garda, Italy

28/06/2016

This morning started off in my expensive parking space which worried me a little about how much the campsites were going to cost. I decided to go find out anyway as I much prefer being able to have a proper shower and refill the water tank. It was €45 for 2 nights which isn't bad when compared to the parking spot I had before. I decided to go for it and have a shower and explore around the lake.

Lake Garda, Italy

I spent a lot of the day relaxing, reading and swimming. The lake being so close and the campsite having a decent size pool meant I kept hopping between the two - showering in between of course! The only downside was that my neighbours were screaming kids which seemed to be all the time. I couldn't help but wish that I was back at the other spot, at least it was quiet. Whilst wandering around I noticed the campsite had a water sports area at the bottom of the site so I decided to check that out, after 20 minutes of debating I left with an annoying thought to go Parasailing. The only reason I didn't book it there and then was because it cost €50 and you're only in the air for 10 minutes!

Lake Garda, Italy

After trying to do some rough research with poor reception I decided to just book it anyway because I really wanted to do it. I headed back to the water sports area and booked in for 1pm the next day.

Day 20 - Lake Braies & Lake Garda, Italy

27/06/2016

I woke at 5am to loud cracks of thunder followed by flashes of lightning followed by rain pounding the van roof. I was absolutely gutted, my plan was to drive 135 miles up mountain roads to see Lake Braies. I had found it on the Internet and it just wouldn't have been the same in rain. I fell back asleep and woke up pretty grumpy debating whether to make the journey, I really wanted to see it but I was doing a 250 mile round trip just for that. After breakfast I packed up the van and decided to go for it, the rain had calmed down a little and I hit the road.

Truckin' up the Dolomites slow and steady but we were still going strong!

As I was getting closer I could see signs for Lago di Braies, the excitement was incredible. I pulled into the car parking area and a parking attendant approached me asking for €5. I thought that was a lot but there wasn't a lot I could do. I handed over the money and tried to ask if it was for 24 hours, he spoke no English and I had no idea what he said but I decided I'd just stop there the night as other motor homes were parked up and looked like they had been there more than 24 hours.  

Potential camp for the night!

I walked over to the lake and it was amazing, I dug out my slr straight away and realised I left the bloody memory card in the van again! I tried taking pictures on the go pro and on my phone but it wasn't the same so I quickly popped back to the van to grab it. I cooked some lunch while I was there as I realised you can walk around the lake, but I found out the pasta was mouldy so that went straight in the bin. A few breakfast biscuits later and I was back at the lake wandering around taking plenty of pictures.

Lago di Braies, Italy

After doing a full circuit I decided not to bother staying over and hit the road to Lake Garda which was my original plan. I had seen all there was at Lake Braies so there was no reason for me to hang around. I found a camperstop a few miles away from the Lake and parked up there, it cost €17 and didn't have many facilities so I headed off on my bike to find the campsites I had found online. They looked very busy so I was doubtful I would get a spot the next day.

Day 19 - Venezia Village Camping, Italy

26/06/2016

Today I decided to have a day relaxing in the van, slacklining, catching up on jobs. There is a Lidl just down the road which was ideal to do a big and cheap shop to restock the van.

Day 18 - Venice, Murano & Burano, Italy

25/06/2016

I had been very excited to see Venice and during the night I decided to open the window again. This time I wasn't so lucky and I woke up covered in huge bites. A couple of the bites on my foot had puss starting to ooze out! I didn't let it bother me too much. I walked down to the bus stop just outside the campsite and headed for Venice. Entering from the bus depot was very weird, there was a lot of graffiti and it seemed quiet. I didn't think Venice had such a quiet side but I headed off around in a big loop. My parents had been before and warned me that the canals can smell quite bad during the summer. I didn't think much of it until I got the smell, it was bad. I must've got used to it by the end of the day.

Canals, Venice

The first main landmark I found was the Rialto bridge which was all boarded up due to work being done to it unfortunately. I continued onto Saint Marks Square which was amazing. Especially after my parents talked about how the square can flood when the tides change. At first the square wasn't too busy but before I knew it, it was absolutely packed with people.

Saint Mark's Basilica

I then ventured on to find the Vaporetti water taxis to look at reaching Murano and Burano in particular. I had seen that Burano looked beautiful with its multicoloured buildings along the canals. I walked past the hospital which was pretty cool. Murano was the same as Venice so I didn't spend very long there.

Emergency Ambulance parking

Grand Canal, Venice, Italy

Burano, Italy

After a big day of walking I headed to the restaurant for a pizza, with Tuna, Chorizo and pepper which was an unusual combination. Tomorrows plan is to rest and catch up on washing, writing, reading.

Day 17 - Rome to Venice

24/06/2016

Today was a heavy day in the van. a 6 - 7 hour drive from Rome to the campsite near Venice. I didn't arrive until after 5pm as there were a few accidents on the motorways and a lot of traffic slowing me down. The journey seemed to fly by thanks to some old tunes.

Truckin' from Rome to Venice

Day 16 - Rome, Italy

23/06/2016

After another terrible nights sleep in the heat I didn't feel too energetic in the morning. I can vaguely remember sliding the window open in the night but some how I got away with absolutely no bites. I headed back into Rome for another day of exploring. I decided to take the train straight to the Vatican city and quickly decided just go walk around the Church and not to bother with the museum. The Church was very impressive and the grounds outside were amazing.

Front of the Church

Vatican City

I then followed the route on the map to the other areas to see. It started with a market, then moved onto a square and then onto Patheon (a temple) followed by a beautiful fountain (Fontana di Trevi) which was very crowded! Followed shortly by a small fountain next to Trinitia dei Monti and finishing at Piazza del Popolo which was next to a Leornado Devinci museum.

Pantheon

Inside Pantheon

Fontana di Trevi

Fountain outside Trinitia dei Monti

There were more fantastic views as I walked towards Piazza del Popolo where I finished the day in the Leonardo Devinci Museum and then took the train back to the campsite.

Day 15 - Rome, Italy

22/06/2016

Last night was definitely the worst nights sleep, the heat was insane. I desperately tried to keep the mosquitos out so I couldn't bring myself to open a window. A cold shower sorted me and I was ready to head into Rome via bus and Train. My first stop was Colosseo which brought me right outside the Colosseum. This was amazing and I walked around it twice starting up at the building whilst being weary of my valuables.

Walking around the Colosseum

After wandering about for a while I debated going in and I decided to go with a tour which took us round the Colosseum and then around Palatino. There was a slight wait inbetween tours so after I spent some time in the Colosseum I decided to go find the ruins from the Gladiator training school.

Inside the Colosseum

We then moved onto Palatino which was a hot sweaty walk up a hill which brought us around the ruins of the old Palace. We were taken through the gardens and the private stadium. We were then lead to some gardens which had a fantastic view of Rome and the second tour ended there. 

Shot of the private stadium of Palatino

Awesome view from the Palatino balcony

On my way back I also decided to stop off at Circus Maximus as it was only around the corner, however this was a bit disappointing. I'm glad I saw it still but there wasn't much to it!

Circus Maximus

Crossing random bridges around Rome

Day 14 - Rome Campsite via Pisa

21/06/2016

This morning I left the campsite in Portofino and headed for Rome which was a good 200 mile journey with a stop off in Pisa to see the leaning tower. After hot and sweaty 85 miles I entered the town of Pisa and found a parking spot straight away. I don't mess around trying to find a closer one as the van with no power steering can be a right pain to park or turn around.

Van squeezed into a parking spot in a street in Pisa

The benefit to parking so far away means you get to take a scenic walk through the towns, albeit a very brisk walk as I only put 1 euro in the meter. 1 euro, 1 hour.. surely that should easily be enough time to go and find the tower and walk through some random streets there and back. 

Large river cutting through Pisa

After about a 20 minute walk I could finally see the tower, it was actually quite impressive and stood at quite an angle. Hundreds of people were stood around trying to catch the classic pose of holding the tower and I walked through them - probably in the pictures to get a closer look. Armed guards stood at the bottom and you could go in and walk up the top but I didn't really fancy standing in the queue. I wandered around for a while until I had to head back before I got a parking fine. It was enough of a quick wiz around Pisa and I still had a fair journey to the campsite in Rome. 

Leaning tower of Pisa

When I arrived in Rome I didn't bother doing much as it was already 5pm. Instead I decided to head to the pool to relax and then set up the slackline as the spot had two perfect trees. This took some figuring out as the trees were so chunky, but the spare tow rope came to the rescue and helped me set it up. 

Managed to set up the slackline, perfect spot next to the van

Day 13 - Portofino and Camogli, Italy

20/06/2016

I set off on the 13 mile round trip to Portofino, I was a bit concerned after the cycle yesterday into Rapallo which was only about 2 miles. After a while I kind of got used to the roads and eventually made it to Portofino, the first thing I saw was a gigantic sailing yacht. The coastal roads on the ride there were amazing and definitely worth the ride.

Huge yacht appearing through the trees as I got closer to Portofino

Once I arrived I quickly locked the bike to walk around and exited to use the slr. I immediately pulled it out and switched it on and read 'No SD Card'. I'd bloody left it in the van. The slr went back and I pulled out the GoPro and as soon as it turned on it switched off again.. the battery was flat. I threw it all back in the bag and took some snaps with my phone. I spoke to a couple form Norfolk who talked about their profession and strongly advised after I get my university results I become a Charted Financial Advisor which is certainly something for me to consider. 

View of Portofino from the hill that lead to a lighthouse

Whilst taking pictures of the harbour, a guy named Emmanuel approached me asking to a take some pictures for him and in turn he took some of me. We got chatting from there and turned out he was from Hong Kong, studying in Paris and was travelling in Italy. We wandered up the hills and up to the lighthouse where we discovered a bar with an amazing view. We had to sit down and get a drink, the bar was purched on the side of a hill and I could not stop staring at the view. Emmanuel told me about his love for karaoke and sang along to some of the tunes the chatty barman was playing. 

Emmanuel on the left, with the view from the bar behind us!

Emmanuel was kind enough to pay for the drinks and we decided to head into the next town Camogli, his host had suggested he visit. It was once again a beautiful little town with a harbour and we explored the back streets and climbed a lot of stairs. We found a spot under some shade to cover from the sun, it was almost unbearable. I don't know how I didn't burn as I left the sun lotion back in the van. 

Beautiful town of Camogli, Italy

It would have been ideal if I had a couple extra days in that part of Italy so I could have explored Cinque Terre. However a last minute decision to head to Rome tomorrow meant that I couldn't spare any more time in this part of Italy. 

Day 12 - Monaco & Rapallo, Italy

19/06/2016

Last night was the first night sleeping in the hammock up top, it was actually quite comfy and I had a good sleep considering the noise from the road. In the night my back felt really cold which might be down to it being so exposed with only a thin bit of material covering it. Today was time to move onto Italy, which made me feel bit gutted to be leaving France after such a great time. I hit the road and headed via Monaco which was my first stop.

I was becoming very stressed trying to navigate through the narrow streets of Monaco and the fears of driving round in circles because all the spaces were taken were starting to get to me. I spotted this row of empty parking and immediately pulled the van in and got ready to go for a wander. After buying the ticket and leaving it in the windscreen I walked down the hill to find there was no way to walk into Monaco this way. In the heat and the fact I only had enough change was starting to annoy me, to my relief after walking back up the hill past the van I spotted a huge set of stairs which took me down to the Main Street. 

The view of Monaco from the halfway point on the stairs. After walking round for nearly an hour I had managed to walk all around the port and some of the back streets and grab an ice cream to de-stress. I headed back for the van to continue to the next campsite near Portofino, Italy. 

I drove for over 2 hours towards Italy and past Genoa. I pulled off the AutoRoute and spotted a sign for the campsite it it wasn't clear which exit it was off the roundabout. I saw one which looked like a truck yard, hoping it wasn't that one I took the next one which turned out even worse. As I cruised past the truck yard I saw the campsite sign then in front of me the toll booths. I was so angry, I had to pay to go onto the toll road to drive 13 miles to come back to this horrible looking site. Music was the main thing that helped take my mind off it, and monitoring the temperature gague to make sure the van doesn't blow up. 

As I pulled in it wasn't as bad as I first thought. It was next to a truck yard but it was actually quite nice when I pulled in. It even has a restaurant and swimming pool (very small but a pool is a pool, until I read I need a bloody swimming cap). I decided to cycle into the town Rapallo which was only 2 miles down the road. It was my first cycle in a busy ish foreign town and it was very weird, I quickly learnt that if you hesitate anywhere someone will pull out on you. I wandered around Rapallo for an hour or so relaxing after a stressful day. 

Day 11 - Nice, South of France

18/06/2016

Another day of sunshine! The sun was beaming through the crap old curtains in the van but it was an awesome way to wake up. Cautious that I was leaving the campsite I had to be packed up by noon so I was straight onto the beach and into the sea for a couple hours. After a late breakfast it was sadly time to pack up and work out where I'm heading to next. I found a couple canperstops in Nice so I decided that would be the next checkpoint.

Trucking along the coastal roads, I decided to drive through Saint Raphael and Cannes but that was a bad decision. Saint Raphael was okay to navigate but the satnav kept trying to direct me back on the AutoRoute but Cannes was much worse. Normally I try my best not to get stressed but things were getting out of hand. There was an event on and people everywhere walking out into the road, police cars blocking turn offs and the satnav was doing my head in once again. I was finally nearly back out of Cannes when a woman started washing my windscreen, I saw her approaching and tried to stop her. I imagine she used the language barrier to ignore what I was saying and gesturing and carried on anyway. I grabbed some change out my pocket in hope she would walk away to another car and if I'm honest, the windscreen was a lot cleaner!

Pictured above was the first camperstop I came across but something didn't quite feel right, it may have been that it was right next to a busy roundabout and the slipway for the AutoRoute. It was so loud! I decided to move on to the other camperstop I found just a few miles down the road which turned out to be better although still a bit noisy.

Day 10 - Saint Maxime, France

17/06/2016

I had a good feeling today, the weather was supposed to be hot according to yesterday's weather forecast and it was absolutely bang on. I spent the first few hours of the day frying in the sun and swimming but I got a bit bored after a while. I was chatting to a guy who happened to be from Stourbridge and said he was planning to cycle into Saint Maxime, I took his idea and cycled off into Saint Maxime. After nearly landing on my arse messing about wheelieing I decided to keep both wheels firmly on the ground.

Saint Maxime was similar to St Tropez being a port full of yachts however there seemed less in the town itself. The beaches I passed were amazing, I had to fight the temptation to go and jump in the sea. 

Once back at the van I decided to head for the beach to soak up the rest of the sunshine and go for a swim. I headed to the campsite shop after to pick up some supplies ready for dinner. I recognised 'poulet' just about from doing French at school so chicken stir fry it is! I hope..

Day 9 - Port de Saint Tropez

16/06/2016

The weather wasn't too bad this morning, but it was still very dull and showers were supposed to be on their way. I started packing a bag ready to cycle to Saint Tropez until a campsite member of staff approached me handing a cut out of paper, my first thought was information about a show?! No. Heavy rain and storms were due and to act accordingly. I stopped what I was doing and quickly scrambled to pack away the awning to leave me one less thing to worry about. Once that was away I hit the cycle paths, the initial plan was to cycle to Port Grimaud and catch a ferry but I decided that was the lazy option. I cycled past Port Grimaud and into St Tropez. After all it was only 4.5 miles on the flat each way.

As I entered St Tropez I was excited to look around as I had been here previously on a family holiday.  The first thing that hit me were the huge yachts towering over the buildings in the marina. They were absolutely massive. 

The weather was still pretty dull but I didn't care after not doing much yesterday. I ended up walking around in loops past all of the designer shops.

As I walked to the end of the marina I walked under an archway which revealed these buildings right on the sea front! They must get battered by the sea in the storms. 

After a good day walking around St Tropez I hit the cycle paths back to the van to relax and crack open a beer or two. I decided to try find a spot I could set up the slackline but there was absolutely nowhere. The only potential was a plastic volleyball net which would've come straight down knowing my luck!