Siena, Tuscany

From Florence we travelled south to Siena in search of rolling hills and the rural scenes of Tuscany. Found an amazing camp ground with lots of trees and flat camp sites. On the first day here we caught the local bus into the centre of town and wandered the streets checking out the Il Campo (where once a year they have a bareback horse race, the only rule is you cannot grab the other jockey's reins).  The area where they race is circular and in the shape of an ampitheatre.  The temperature has been steadily climbing as we head south a solid 28 degrees today (still in Spring), melting the gelato far too quickly...

Siena campsite, shady trees and lots of bird life

Local red wine "Chianti" and Ragu (Tomato and mince) and Pici noodles for dinner.

Chocolato fondant gelato in Siena

Il Campo (where the annual horse race is held)

Streets of Siena

The second day we were keen to sample some of the local wines and possibly do a tour.  After weighing up our options it seemed best to just jump in the car and randomly drive the small local roads for the day. The roads we travelled were easy going and the scenery quite spectacular, vineyards everywhere.

Tuscan vineyard

Siena rural vista

Chapel within the walls of Castello de Brolio

Castello walls

The view from the outer wall of Castello de Brolio

Castello de Brolio

Gardens below

Typical rural buildings and surrounding vineyards

Wine tasting at de Brolio Vineyard

Destroying another pizza, in Gaiole in Chianti, attempted some pigeon Italian with some success..

Cool red Vespas for hire

The trusty steed and I

Streets of Radda in Chianti

Florence

From Pisa we carried onto Florence.  We found an amazing camp ground on the hills above the city, shrouded in olive trees... again (10 mins walk from the city centre).  Spent two nights here and sampled some of the art and culture that the city had to offer.  Managed to check out some of Michelangelo, De Vinchi & Botticelli's original works in the city Uffizi Gallery.  Lots of gelato, and family owned pizza/pasta restaurants. Also where most of the big name fashion labels began i.e Gucci, Armani, Prada, D & G etc..

Driving on the right side..

Our camp ground in Florence

The Duomo (Cathedral)

Cathedral

Town square horse rides

Fresco on the ceiling of the Duomo

Rose garden

Rose garden city behind

Arno river in Florence, with Ponte Vecchio in the background (bridge with shops, mainly jewelery)

Statue

Rubbing the nose is supposed to give good luck.

View from the hilltop next to the camp site

The Duomo light up in the evening

Ponte Vecchio lit up

Florence and the river in the foreground

Lucca,Viareggio, Pisa and the leaning tower

From Tellaro we headed towards Tuscany and the town of Lucca.  Lucca was a dark, medieval town with narrow streets that we had great fun getting lost in.  The original city walls still in tact, had been converted to include tree-lined walkways that gave a great view of the town and surrounding countryside.


As there were limited camping options here, we headed for Viareggio, a seaside town full of camping grounds. That night we decided to go for a walk to the beach through the reserve and saw a wild boar run across our path right in front of us.  The beach was set up for resorts as there must have been around 5,000 deckchairs and umbrellas set up.  Funny thing was, there were no people - it was actually a bit creepy, like a ghost town.  We found our way into the town and had a pizza at a local woodfire pizzeria.  


The next day, we headed off early towards Pisa and the infamous Leaning Tower.  This was my first drive in the car - no dramas. 

Narrow Lucca Street

Town centre

Gate to the centre

Fruit & Vege store

Local deli

Walking on the city walls

Car and campsite in Viareggio

The leaning tower

Token photo

Had to do it...

So did all these people...

Pisa

Bonjourno - welcome to Italy!

Flew into Milan and were given a lift from the airport to pick up our hire car. Unfortunately our Peugeot 308 had "problems" at the factory; fortunately we were given a free upgrade to the 308 SW (the station wagon version). This was great as it meant more boot space for all our stuff and an option to sleep in the back if it rains.

The Duomo in Milan

We stayed the night at Hotel Ca Grande in Milan which was a bit rubbish. Caught the metro train to an outdoor store the hotel manager had suggested, which had virtually everything we needed for camping.  Picked up a tent for $100 NZD (that puts itself up in 2 secs!), airbed, camping chairs, cooker etc... Gold.


The following day we headed off en-route to Cirque Terre a national park on the west coast of Italy. We had no idea there was no camping allowed in national parks... so after some helpful directions from a local we made our way to Tellaro (a small seaside village) for the night.  The tomtom  we had bought in London was already coming in handy with it picking our camp sites near us and guiding us in and our of motorways and through local towns.


Tellaro was a beautiful village with narrow, winding streets and brightly coloured dinghy boats by the water.  Our campsite was on the side of a hill full of olive trees and overlooking the sea and the other towns nearby.

Our new tent - step one take out of the bag.

Step 2 - throw in the air

Step 3 - Move around a little bit

Step 4 - Taddah! instant tent. Pegs in and done.

View from our camp site out to sea

Tellaro waterfront

Local deli purchase

Italians love their bicycles!

The ole double edged sword...

Tellaro