(written by Dave) Florence is massive and full of so much history that it would take months to see everything properly.  We had one day.  Okay, that’s not long enough, especially when one of the things we like to do is to find little corners of non-tourism like cafes and shops.  We settled on seeing … Continue reading Sightseeing in Firenze (Florence)

(written by Nancy) Okay, last night was officially very cold – coldest night in the tent in a long time.  We both wore most of our warm clothes, including our down pullovers and hats.  Dave even wore his one pair of pants to bed – he says he wasn’t cold but I was cold most … Continue reading Tough day into the ancient city – Montopoli to Firenze (Florence) (53/12,440k)

  (Written by Dave) Very quiet overnight in the Campeggio Italia – we were so far out the back of the campground that no one would have known if we were even there.  As a matter of fact, this morning when we left, I tracked the mileage and noted it was 650 metres  from our … Continue reading Leaning Tower day – Marina Di Massa to Montopoli in Val d’Arno (84/12,387 ks)

(Written by Nancy) We woke up to blue sky and no clouds today – yeah!  Dave ran out to the bakery to get some things for breakfast - saving the oatmeal for those times when we don’t have anything else nearby.  We hit the road about 8:30 on what looked like a perfect March day.  … Continue reading Over Passo del Barcco – Sestri Levante to Marina Di Massa (82/12,303 ks)

(Written by Dave) It rained quite heavily overnight and was raining when the alarm went off at 7AM today.  What else could we do other than to call rain-delay-day number two.  We have few days up our sleeves and a big hill to climb from here to the next stop.  There was some risk of … Continue reading Rain day two – hanging in Sestri Levante

(Written by Nancy) Well, we woke up to dark grey skies and as we debated what to do it started to rain and that settled it for us – a day off to let the storms pass and take the opportunity to explore the Cinque Terre area a bit. We stopped at a little bakery … Continue reading Rain day and touring in Cinque Terre

(written by Dave) We’d been warned about hills today but also told that the route was “tranquil”.  It was both.  We ended up stopping a little before our intended destination due to the hills.  The next section of road contains the biggest hill of this part of the coast and we are just not in … Continue reading Hill day – Genova to Sestri Levante (58/12,221 ks)

(written by Nancy) It was very quiet in the campground last night, though strangely enough there seemed to be birds chirping all night.  It was pretty chilly and started to sprinkle about 2:30am – I jumped up to get the laundry we had hanging on the line as Dave mumbled about that being a good … Continue reading Super Mauro to the rescue – Pietra Ligure to Genova (77/12,163k)

(written by Nancy) First night in the tent in many months and it wasn’t too bad even with the hard brick ground.  We were pretty close to the road so there was a bit of traffic noise that kept us awake for a bit.  Actually, I think the group of worker guys who came in … Continue reading Following the coast road – San Remo to Pietra Ligure (73/12086Ks)

(written by Dave) We had a nice day riding from Nice to San Remo (sorry, couldn’t resist one more nice/Nice comment)… We were up early but pretty slow getting going.  Even though we test packed everything last night, items kept appearing from out of thin air.  The bags went from having a little extra space … Continue reading Into Italy! Nice to San Remo (58/12,126k)