Working our way back home ❤️

Leaving Val d’Orcia our plan had been to head up to Finale Ligure on the Italian riviera for Dave to do some mountain biking, before heading home. Sadly though the weather had really changed now, and torrential rain forecast. This was no good for biking as the trails would be closed and the biking shops not doing uplifts. Unfortunately it also looked like rain in most places for the week ahead, so with sadness, we decided to start our journey home, slowly, and hope to pick up some dry weather somewhere on route. 

Our first stop was just north of Florence, where we took he opportunity to get Rubes seen by the vet for her return home. This then freed us up to take the journey flexibly, and stop when we wanted to. Also a bonus that the cost was less than half the price we usually pay in France 😃

Weather looked to be good around Susa, just west of Turin, so we stayed the night. A really interesting small town with much Roman heritage and remains. The weather had turned quite cold now, and this was our first glimpse of snow, high up on the tops of the peaks. Did a fabulous walk the following day, skirting the mountain sides, and also taking in the Roman highlights - Dave was in his element 🤣

St Augustus Gate

Roman amphitheatre 

One of the many churches in Susa

Our first sighting of snow

Warm enough to walk sleeveless with snow caps in the distance 

Local bar we visited - wine from the vat - 3 € a litre 🤣

Pottered up through France slowly, and stayed at Sezanne for the night - just below Epernay. An interesting small town, seemingly encouraging camper vans to stay by providing free parking in the centre for 24hrs, with free facilities and even free electricity! Finally arrived in Calais to spend the night on the coast, before the train in the morning. A severe weather warning was given, but we did manage a lovely walk on the beach at Wissant, in between showers - and Ruby loved it 😍 

Happy to be pottering on the beach

There was indeed flooding in the morning - needed to get off the campsite fast, otherwise think we’d have been stuck there for days! Fled in the dark at 6am, and drove through flood water to get to Eurotunnel - safely. By the looks of media reports later, if we’d left our departure any later we wouldn’t have made it to the train - as the flood got increasingly deep, very quickly. But fortunately for us we made is safetly home 👍

So back to our lovely home again, after an amazing trip, and with some fantastic experiences and memories. And here are some of our additional reflections on the trip 😃

We were quite amazed at how widely English was spoken - seemed so much more so than when we have traveled in Spain and France - I guess Italian is not really spoken world wide, so more necessity for English to be learned - anyway, it worked for us 😃 Italian people were, on the whole, incredibly friendly, and many people went out of their way to welcome us, even strangers in passing waving or giving thumbs up when they saw the UK sticker on the van. Things felt relaxed - people generally seemed quite laid back, not particularly rule bound, and a general sense of just getting on with life, and letting others do the same (felt less like that on our brief time in Germany 🤣). One thing that was surprising was the extent to which the church still appeared to play a central part in peoples lives. Religious icons were everywhere, and religious tourism common - not just with older generations, but with young people too. Not sure if this was more prevalent because we were travelling mainly in more rural / small town areas, or not? Just feels very different to the more secular society that we live in here. 

We were struck by what seemed a real sense of community, and observed much socialising among people - in particular older people. It was not uncommon to see groups of elder residents meeting together, in the afternoon or evening, either along the streets, at cafes, or in parks - just to socialise. I guess the weather obviously helps that type of getting together, as people seem to spend a lot of time outside. Similarly, outdoor activity (and exercise) seemed very common, amongst all ages. 

Driving was interesting in Italy - certainly more relaxed than when we have previously visited major Italian cities - true that some drivers are right up behind you, with lights on, but we were told to just ignore them - “that’s what they do” and let them sort themselves out - which actually they did. So overall, not quite as stressful as we (Dave) might have imagined. Interesting also that in urban zones speed limits are low - and on the whole everybody abides by them! We noted a lot of road building going on - primarily of bridges on major roads. We remember being in Italy soon after the Genoa bridge collapse a few years ago - looks like all bridges are being prioritised for repair / remedial work - maybe they Italians also have their own problems with dodgy concrete 🤣

Some things seemed quite expensive in Italy - campsites, supermarkets,  while other things seemed relatively cheap - e.g. diesel, and interestingly vet fees (compared to France). Campervan services were fairly good, but not as widespread, or as cheap as in France - but still loads better than the UK 🤣 Recycling was everywhere! 

Italian food definitely deserves a mention - the cultural importance of food is obvious everywhere- food quality is good, and people proud of it. Eating out is common, and a delight 😃 And even though meat is very prevalent, vegetarians fair well too - so that kept me happy 🤣 People seem very excited by food, and are keen to talk about it - all that served us well! 

Travelling around Italy was a delight, and relatively easy. Admittedly we didn’t venture into large cities,  and tried as much as possible to steer clear of the dominant tourist trails - but on the whole was very straightforward. The weather did present some challenge - it often being far too hot! Temperatures were unprecedentedly high, and even locals were struggling. Activity needed to be confined to mornings, or early evenings - so there was a lot of time for lounging around, reading, writing blogs etc 😃 Unfortunately Rubes struggled mostly with the heat - her thick fur coat did not serve her well in this climate. But she usually found a cooler place to rest (often under an olive tree), and kept her activity to a minimum - swimming always helped 🤣

So the end of another great adventure, totally inspired by what Italy had to offer in terms of welcome, variety of landscape, culture, history, activity options, and of course food and wine - what else could we want!  We loved Italy, and would be keen to explore further- another trip 😃

And thanks to Dave for another safe and fabulous drive 👍😃

So until the next adventure…….Arrivederci ❤️