It's A Dog's Life: Italy and into Germany

5th June

An early start, we're driving through some busy places today, also I don't fancy paying the toll fees. Grasse and then Nice first up, driving through the middle of cities doesn't really do it for me. Nice was nice, but way to narrow are the roads, and we get our first taste of motorbike mayhem. Then it was onto the Principality of Monaco, hugging the coast road all the way, marina after marina stacked with yachts, there's money here, plenty of sports cars, Lamborghini's and Ferrari's galore, and no hooky Ray Bans from the Saturday flea markets!

Some pic's taken from a view point near Nice

Monaco

Monaco was even worse, both satnavs go into meltdown, recalculating the route every few hundred yards, they've had a job lot on traffic lights, also every hundred yards. It's motorcycle madness, how I didn't knock one over as they weaved in and out of the traffic. Max was going ballistic when we had to stop at every traffic light, and the motorbikes would be revving up waiting for the green flag! Once we left Monaco we hit Menton the last place in France, and went over the border into the province of Liguria, Italy.

A video of the drive

The roads in Italy are either S roads or SS roads, we are on the SS1, I think S is for small and SS super small! Winding our way along the coast road through San Remo and onto our stop for the night Diana Marino. 43.906719 8.071430 10€pn 2€ EHU plus they have good wifi.

112 miles 5hrs 30mins

We arrived exhausted, it has been the hottest day to date, probably hotter than Morocco? I never thought 100 miles could take so long, you could take off an hour for waiting at traffic lights easily! We can say we have drove through Monaco, been there, done it, couldn't afford the T-shirt, but never again I'll pay the tolls next time.

Diana Marino is a typical tourist town, it's on the Riviera di Ponente, it has a nice promenade, but most of the beach front is privately owned, where you can rent a lounger, and use their bar/restaurant.

The site is 750m to the beach and 400m from the town centre, the town is full of restaurants, with alfresco dining along the streets. The sun was setting behind the mountains at about 8pm, the cool breeze was welcome after today's jaunt.

6th June

Today we decided to give the coast road a miss, the satnavs said it was over 5hrs, it was too hot to be sitting at traffic lights and speeds of 30km p/hr, and nigh on 30 towns to drive through plus the city of Genova. Bite the bullet and take the motorway known as the AutoFiori, worry about the cost later.
We joined the A10 just outside Diana Marino and flew along, the motorway is a feat of engineering, we went through 119 tunnels ranging from 200m to 1800m we estimate we drove through 50km minimum of tunnel, and double that with viaducts, the motorway is built high into the mountains, which run all the way along the coast, you can see all the coastal towns below, the cost for this luxury was 25€ and it shaved at least 3hrs minimum off the journey, it was a great drive, money well spent. After passing Genova we joined the A12 and onto our stop for the day Marinella di Sarzanna

140 miles 2hrs 30min

The site is 200m from the beach 44.050228 10.007590 10€ usual services no EHU. The temperature was in the high 30's when we arrived, after setting up we went in search of an ice cream? The beach is like Diana Marino, in as much as all the beach front is privately owned or by hotels, and dogs are not allowed! Finding a bar we had a few cold ones, beer is more expensive here, a lot more than Portugal. Then it was back for supper "Pasta" and sit out till dark, when it got cool again.

A view of the mountain range behind the campsite

One of the reasons Max has not fallen I love with Italy

This statue of Carlo Fabricotti stands on the side of the campsite along with the family graveyard, the statue is made from Marble, very fitting as the Fabricotti family dynasty made it's money from Marble

June 7th

Today we continue our whistle-stop tour of Italy, and head into the Tuscany region, and the city of Pisa, taking the coast road as it's only 36 miles

36miles 3hrs

What should have been an hour journey was in effect 3hrs, due to a 2hr stop at McDonalds to use their wifi. the site is located about 2km from the main tourist attractions namely the Piazza del Doumo "Cathedral Square" 43.721202 10.42071 12€ p/n 2€ EHU if required.

Video of Pisa

City walls erected 1156

This historic Aqueduct runs through the centre of the city

The remains of the Roman baths

The main buildings of Piazza del Doumo

Pisa is an interesting city, but you will pay top price for a meal or drinks within spitting distance of the Piazza, there are also hundreds of souvenir shops, all selling the same Tat, leaning mugs and coasters etc. Plus there where hundreds of American and Japanese tourists, all trying to get the infamous picture of holding the tower!!

It was too hot to be walking, Max was flagging and panting, when we got back we had to put a wet flannel on him to bring his temperature down. I never thought I would hear myself complain about the heat, but since we have arrived in Italy it has been unbearable.

The other problem I have with Italy, is their Mosquitos, I'm normally immune to the little barstards, but they seem to have a different strain here, all through France, Spain, Portugal and Morocco, Sam picked up the odd bite or two, while I never got one, today my body looks like I have measles, little welts everywhere to many to count, and they itch like beggary!

8th June

Leaving Pisa we are now going northwards towards Germany and homeward. Todays stop takes us to the town of Scarperia, famous for it's race track Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello owned by the Scuderia Ferrari, and used for testing.

We went to a free Aire to look around the town 43.994888 11.356240, basically a carpark, no services. We could hear the engines of the motorcars on the track a few km away from the town centre?

An unusual memorial to WWI

After a quick walk about we headed for Mugello, unfortunately the gates were closed to the general public, so we set off for the Campsite 12km away, the Ranch Ricavo 44.011841 11.306730

This is the second ranch we have been on this trip, set out in the Tuscany countryside 10€ p/n inc EHU and wifi, and swimming pool.

We decided to treat ourselves and have a meal at the restaurant, there was no menu to look at, the girl explained they could do this sort of pasta and that sort of pasta, we are both struggling with the Italian language, I saw the pic of the steak on the brochure and ordered the Tbone steak with chips and salad,

The steak came out chargrilled, about 20 oz, just the one though, but Sam is not a massive eater so I thought that would suffice, a carafe of wine to accompany it, I did the honours and cut up the steak. We could hear Max barking his head off in the van, they have about 8 collies on the ranch with a few other large dogs to boot, so Max had to stop in to enable us to relax and enjoy the meal.

There was a few eyes on the remains of the Tbone, sorry Max has his name on it

When we finished and it was time to pay, they said no problems settle up tomorrow when you pay for the camping, we enjoyed the meal and it was nice to have a break from Max for a few hours!

9th June

We stopped another day at the ranch, just lazing about in the sun, The weather is so hot here in Italy, hopefully when we move further north it will cool a tad.

Sam went to square up for the camping and the meal last night, and came back looking a little forlorn, 48€ for the steak not including the chips and salad! I thought Smith and Ripoffs "Smith and Western" steak house in Horsham was pricey, the ranch beats it hands down.

The sun sets on another hard day at the ranch

10th June

Leaving the ranch we picked up the SP39, then the SP59 and SP61, a series of small winding roads that weaved it’s way up and down the Tuscany mountain range into a new province Emilia Romagna and onto Bologna, along the way we were passed by 5 British plate cars, paying no attention to the 70km and 90km speed limits, it appeared they were racing each other and flew passed us engines squealing, one Ferrari two Maserati's and two Lamborghini's, 70km p/hr was way to fast for me in the van, as I was on the brakes on every decent, and second to third gear climbing.

We drove through Bologna, then picked up the toll roads, A1 to Modena and the A22 and A4 to Monzambano a few km from Lake Garda, in the province of Lombardi, the cost of the toll was 10€

This is a fantastic site purposely built by the local council to attract tourism.
45.38872 10.69389 They have done a great job, it's set in a small park, landscaped with a fishing pond, with cherry plum and walnut trees all bearing fruit, and can hold 130 vans, the site is 100m from the historic centre, there are picnic areas with BBQ’s and a Pizzeria on the side of the site. The cost per night is 13€ including EHU it also has wifi 1€ for 12hrs complete, valid for 3 days.

The Monzambano region is renowned for it’s local produce, quality wines by Garda Colli Mantovani, Grana Padana cheese, extra virgin olive oil, with much fruit jams and honey on sale. It has two castles and a few old churches. The town is quaint, with plenty of little bars and restaurants, like quite a lot of the bars here in Italy, they are either pizzerias or gelateria “ice-cream” shops that have a liquor licence. We plan to stay two days before visiting the lakes.

17th century church of St Michael the Arch Angel

Piazzo Comunale

The medieval castle

11th June

Today is no different to any of the days we have had since arriving in Italy come to think of it, since we got to the Cote d’Azur, it is uncomfortably hot, the rain I saw forecast days ago has not materialised, we have no option but to sit outside and fry in the baking sun, how I yearn for the British summer.

We are going to try one of these later, washed down with a few beers

We took a walk up to the castle, but unfortunately the bell tower viewing area that overlooks the town and the valley, was only open on a Sunday and most of it is owned privately by the different homeowners.

It was time to treat ourselves to an ice-cream, 4 scoops of different flavours for 5 € delish!

At least you get a good measure here, unlike my local.

12th June

After two nice days in Monzambano we head towards the lakes, first up Lake Garda, and the town of Salo. The Aire has been moved a short distance from the co-ords on CC, it’s now to the end of a car park 45.60340 10.51501, no services, I guess the council don’t want to encourage long term stayers at such a beautiful spot, besides there are loads of paying campsites all along the lake.

We are not staying here today we just wanted to check it out for future reference, it is 300m from the lake and about another 500m from the main town, which looks appealing, all in all worthy of a nights stop.

Salo, Lake Garda

It was then off to Vercurago on Lake Garlate, from which Lake Como flows into. Taking the motorway to save driving through Bergamo, and all the other towns along the route, we paid the toll 4.20 well worth it. I had to fill up with diesel again to get us into Austria. Italy and Switzerland are expensive when it comes to diesel, it also costs more at certain pumps which are attended, 1.41 compared to 1.56, which I found out on our first fill!

96 miles 2hrs 40min

When we arrived at the Aire in Vercurago, another we found in CamperContact, a police car pulled in as I was levelling up and told us that camping is now forbidden there, fair does he pointed us to another car park which he said we could stop at for one night 45.81204 9.42218, again no services, luckily we always make sure to empty and fill up with water at the site we are on before leaving, “if it has full services” in the event we stop at places like this.

Verurago

When we were nearing Vercurago it started to drizzle, it stopped when we arrived, but it’s definitely cooler than at Lake Garda this morning.

13th June

The rain woke me at 4am and by 6am I decided to get up, putting the kettle on, I took Max out for a stroll, it was still drizzling and after the brew we headed for Chiavenna, and our last day in Italy.

No sooner had we drove through Lecco, we drove through the first of many tunnels on the SS36, we were hoping to see a bit of Lake Como on-route, as the road runs all along the side of it, we counted 23 tunnels and because each tunnel is given a name and the distance is on a plate before you enter, we were ale to calculate that we went through 30km of tunnel on the 63km journey, and saw very little of Lake Como.

You don't see these much more in the UK, a cigarette machine

It also sells everything else you can buy in a gents toilet in most bars.

Arriving at Chiavenna it was still raining, the clouds were low over the mountain peaks and it looked like it was in for the day. The Aire is in the centre of the town on a large car park 46.31572 9.39652, however there was a fairground set up and all their caravans were in the reserved area for campers, a brief look around and a quick cup of coffee, a decision was made to head onto Switzerland and into Liechtenstein, to the capital Vaduz.

Chiavenne

Satnavs set for no tolls, as you need a vignette to use the motorways in Switzerland, one says we need to go back to Milan! the other a 158 mile journey? Our Dunlop maps I bought off fleabay for each country are shit, “that’s being kind” and would be of more use to set a fire going on a cold winters morning. We can see the toll roads on the map, which looks like all tunnels, the rest is a series of yellow and orange squiggles across the full map of Switzerland, my AutoRoute gives a direct route to Chur after the town of Silvaplan, 93 miles, it looks ok, so we set off hoping the Chinky and the TomTom satnavs would right themselves as we go! A few miles up the road and we are in Switzerland, TomTom gives up the ghost completely, we find out we have only Western Europe and Morocco on it.

So we proceed with the Chinky “another great buy from fleabay, and the updates we spent hours doing a few weeks ago has made no difference” re-calculating the route at every given opportunity. Just before St Moritz there is a junction and a road that leads to Chur, however the satnav tells us to carry on to St Moritz, not knowing the road and whether there are height or width restrictions we have no choice but to put our faith in the technology available!

Somebody's shed in St Moritz

After St Moritz we encountered the first of two mountain passes, if I thought the first one was bad, the second Flueapass just before Klosters, was a once in a lifetime experience, the steepest incline that’s normally reserved for theme park rides and with a series of twists all up the side of the mountain. You could see the vehicles further up about eight twists ahead, and the poor van struggled in 2nd and 3rd gear all the way up. at times especially the tight switchback bends drop into 1st gear and praying it would not stall, the climb took ages with motorbike after motorbike making it look easy as they sped past taking the bends on their knees, at the top we checked the altitude on the Chinese satnav 2383m ASL. The snow was thick and the lakes still frozen, the temperature was 12c a little nippy in my shorts and sandals, the motorcyclists were congregated at the rest area busily shaking each others hands as though they had conquered Everest, we saw hundreds on the way up and down from all countries, it must be one of the things to do on their bucket list? We’ve done some mountains along this road trip, some scary ones in Spain and Morocco, but these Swiss ones win hands down in my opinion, “now where’s that T-Shirt”.

Nearing the top of the pass

Going down was easier, brakes most of the way, it levelled off at about 1500m for a while and into Klosters. From there it was all plain sailing, driving through a few tunnels straight and long, the tunnels descended to about 500m and flatland, finally after roughly 6hrs we arrived in Liechtenstein and the capital Vaduz.

160 miles 6hrs

The Aire is on a large car park 47.13725 9.51100, a few hundred meters from the City, if that’s what you can call it, it’s no bigger than Roffey, in England we’d call it a Hamlet? Free on the weekend and 4.50 for 24hrs in the week, with usual services.

Liechtenstein is a small principality about 24 by 24 km, it’s very affluent and spotlessly clean, it’s also expensive as we were soon to find out, after obtaining some Swiss francs from the hole in the wall. The city of Vaduz is overlooked by Vaduz castle, the residence of the Prince and his wife, there are many nice statues and art works dotted around, with some fine buildings and a few museums. The official language being German, but most are fluent in English.

The Princes Palace

The Government Building

After the tour of the city, “you can walk from one end to the other in 15min” it was hot, so we found a nice bar, the beer is expensive, more than Italy, but expected, the bonus being it has free wifi, I'm able to find out the score in last nights football match between Wales and Belgium, 1-0 to Wales and looking good to qualify for the Euros, a first in my lifetime, also Belgium are ranked 2 in the FIFA world rankings, so beating them will boost our ranking to a top seed come the draw. To be honest it goes to show how bad the FIFA world rankings are when Belgium are ahead of such teams as Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Holland and Italy?

14h June

It rained for quite sometime again last night, this morning it was bright sunshine and warm at 8.30am. We are heading into Germany, leaving Liechtenstein after a few miles we enter Austria and one road all the way to the German border, stopping at Lake Bodensee,in Austria on-route, whose shores border Switzerland Austria and Germany, we then head to our destination in Bavaria, the town of Schiedegg 47.57239 9.84490, 9 p/n plus 1.20 pp and 3 EHU.

48 miles 1hr 30min

The site is aside a large building, with restaurant bar and conference centre, there are some nice walks into the surrounding countryside, lederhosen's being the call of the day, there was some sort of fair going on at the conference centre when we arrived, with stalls and such set out selling local fare, also donkey rides for the kids, Sam purchased some bread that contained every seed known to man. A walk into the town a few hundred metres away, sampling the local brew, we headed back to the site to make a plan for our way back to the UK, taking in the Romantic Road in Germany on way.