Montemilitto & Amalfi

We arrived at Montemilitto last Saturday (18thJuly) after a long day of driving and waiting on ferry's. We left the Isle of Elba hoping to catch a mid to late morning ferry (they tend to wing things a little here - even though it is peak time! Well nearly peak time - mid July to mid August is PEAK! All these people and they say this is not busy!)
As a result the first available ferry was 1.30 pm. It was another mid 30 degree day again, if not higher. How were we going to sit and wait in these temps. Particularly the children. Rico got us onto standby, so we waited in queues just like we do in NZ with the Inter islander.

Montemilitto Castle

A&R managed to get on the next available one, but because of our size (the motor home that is) we had to wait till the 1.30pm in 40 degree heat. We have never perspired as much as we are currently. So once we got on board, I spent the whole trip inside the air conditioned lounge while Bill went outside to take photos.
Once back on the mainland, and 2 hours behind Amanda & Rico, we headed off to Montemilitto, 7 hours driving in high temps, AND our airconditioning stopped once again two thirds of the way through the trip.

Parked up outside our "home"

We finally turned up at 10.00pm at Montemilitto, which is inland about an hour from Naples, 3 hours behind A&R, thankfully the last two hours weren't as bad as the sun had gone behind mountains, but it was still very warm.
Montemilitto is where Rico's father & family come from. They still own farm land which is where the family are hoping to do a large scale renovation to make a BB complex, plus more modern living for Rico's parents to retire to in the next few years. In the town the family own an apartment block which is where we

Luna between 2 "Wise" Men

were to stay for the next 4 days. Rico's family name Petrillo is the 3rd most common name in Montemilitto after Capone & Musto, so there are a lot of family around. Not all Petrillo's are related, but certainly quite a few are. We had quite a few shared family meals as they are so hospitable and make you feel very

Bill happily helping with bbq 

welcome. The day after our arrival, we went on a family barbecue into a forest (Woods) near by. It was privately run but set up like Rabbit Island in

Family BBQ in the Woods

Nelson with lots of bbq's and picnic tables all under trees thankfully. Lots of families. Some people near by were barbecuing a traditional cheese over the fire, then spreading it on toasted bread. It was really delicious.

Barbecuing cheese- delicious.

The little town itself is a lovely old village built on top of a hill like so many towns in Italy, full of cobbled streets. The castle in the centre of the old part has recently been restored to it's earlier majestic self, a back drop to a lot of the old buildings surrounding it. A mixture of renovated & dilapidated buildings.

Montemilitto Piazza

Montemilitto has five and a half thousand people, employment is a bit of a struggle these days but you wouldn't know it as everyone is happy to share what they do have. Families are very important. Mario, Rico's cousin who lives next door, owns a panel beaters / workshop. Bill worked in there for one day while we were there as he

Bills next reno job maybe??

was keen to help on a big job that was being done. Not sure how they managed as they don't speak any English (or very little) and Bill very little Italian, but over a communal meal and lots of red wine that night, everyone seemed very happy with

Beautiful Doors

the days events. And Amanda & I were happy as Rico took us to an amazing local market where I bought tops and shoes. SHOES! Real Italian leather shoes. Sooooooo cheap, look forward to returning in a weeks time.

Cobbled streets of Montemilitto

Part of this trip was for Rico to follow up the renovation project that was suppose to have started over a year ago, but you can't rush the Italian Council and these things take time. More so when you aren't living in the same town. It is now hoped things

Some of the many colourful villas.

will get underway late September, there is an actual start date. Fingers crossed. We hope we will see some of it, or all of it completed before we head back to NZ as it is so run down at this point, it will be lovely to see the completed plan. Good luck.

Lovely paved streets

One of our days while in town we drove down to Salerno and caught a ferry up the Amalfi Coast to Amalfi for the day, visiting Ravello where A&R got

Amalfi

married ten years earlier. We had a lovely lunch at one of the many cafes while looking out over the piazza, with another much needed cold beverage of course.

Ravello on top of the hill

After lunch it was time to catch the bus up to Ravello, which is really a skinny narrow one way road used for two way traffic, up to the top of the hill to the little village of Ravello. OMG, the 10km signs mean nothing if not go faster when driving a long bus! We sadly couldn't make their wedding at that time, so it was lovely to run through the day with A&R again.  The

Town Hall where A&R married

weather was just amazing (if not a little too hot - have I said how hot it is!) so the place was as pretty and picturesque as it was on their wedding day. Oleanders do very well here, they are everywhere.

An exhausted Caio

We returned to Amalfi in time to pick up some Limoncello (my brother Graeme says it is the home of football sized lemons where they make fantastic Limoncello apparently. A quick swim in the sea, then catch the ferry back to Salerno. A big day, but very enjoyable.

Elba the Dream Isle.

Looking through to Port Piombino

Elba's history can be dated well back into history, featuring in Homers Epic tales of adventure, centuries BC.

Where our cruise began

The Argonauts visited here, and was known for its rich resource of iron ore then, and still being mined into last century, though its richest resource is know tourism. Any thoughts of this being an undiscovered paradise were shattered many many years ago, and with it now being peak season,..... we are not alone!

Our lovely beach cafe on Elba

The weather is stunningly hot and settled, something very foreign to us antipodean island dwellers. The nearest I have experienced is, the hottest summer day in Central Otago. It stays hot all night and may only drop a few degrees after 4am till sun up.

The culture we have all read of siesta is alive & well in Italy as it is physically sapping and not a lot can be achieved in the heat, even the camp nominally closes its gates from 2pm till 4 ,to vehicle traffic, noise and activities are forbaden, or at least frowned on. The beaches empty out from 12 ish till 3ish when it picks up again till 6 or 7.
There are African vendors continually plying the beach with sunny's, towels, jewellery etc. and food, as this is their neighbourhood. As we move further south to where the refuges are landing it will become even more apparent.
The beach is golden sand and a sizeable bay between two headlands 3 km across, the beach 4km, it is divided into about 10 private areas separated by 50 -100 m stretches off free beach, where we go. You are free to transit along the fronts and if the seating
is too near the water you can transverse them, nobody seems to get hassled. Many have associated restaurants ,bars etc, and though the deck chairs are largely abandoned by 7 the bars fire up into the small hours. It is great for party time holidays, but a shock to our system. Having said that we are enjoying the spot.

Bill with alternative to coffee

 Cheap beer and gelato, lovely sights, warm water and siestas, everyday:):)
The bay was in German occupation during WW2 but that was only small fry compared to the Islands checkered pass with most "maritime nations" having

Napoleon's home while in exile

conquered and held the Island, for whatever reason was important or political at the time.The locals possibly didn't even realise the masters had changed, on occasion, especially if it happened at siesta, life goes on. Napoleon was exiled here for 300 days in a villa at the top of the hill, and engaged with the locals, trying to better their lot, as history recalls, what was actually bettered is a mute point, but he was eventually liberated to go on and lose at the Battle of  Waterloo, thus again being exiled to a less salubrious location, as befitting a man of his diminished stature.

One of the many swims

We took an Island coastal boat tour halfway round the island mid week, a 5hour cruise which was great.

One of the many beaches on Elba

Think of Able Tasman National Park on steroids being populated by Kiwis on Prozac. Many vantage points were built on with several villages on the hill sides and most beaches had Lido's(private sunning/bathing areas).
The boat was packed to the gunnel's, with not enough seating and shade for all, however with constant breeze and shifting shade, was ok, and every hour or so would stop, and half the boat would jump into stunningly clear blue blue water, bodies everywhere, how no one was left behind goodness knows.

The "Family Starfish"

A running commentary was given in flawless Italian so didn't glean too much, but in all was worth it if only for the great swimming, sadly Sheryl was unable to overcome her fears and waited to swim later in the day back at the beach.

Is that the Captain's hand!

The captain and indeed many of his country men still smoke, an old well chewed stogie  is still much favoured. He mooched round the boat chewing his stogie for most of the trip and I took a memorable shot of him busy in the head as we cruised. As an aside thankfully the heads were looked at all swim stops, this didn't stop queues forming and people knocking on the doors with concerned anxiety :(:(

Near the end of the trip, everyone knackered!

Meeting up with The Petrillo's on the Isle of Alba

Port Piombino on the Isle of Elba

Saturday, 11th July, it was time to meet up with A&R at Pisa before heading to the Isle of Elba for a week of camping on the island.

Crossing over from the mainland

Pisa was a central point to meet the Petrillo's travelling down from Switzerland and where the much promised Super Stores were that Bill was hoping to finally get his much researched / sort after (thank you both Owen & Rico for having so much patience with Bill)

First BBQ at camp

barbecue. And he did! Plus a much needed fan to help us sleep at nights, and restock our larder before travelling to the island.

Approaching Port

We made the ferry half an hour before departure, whose timing was as efficient as the Swiss, leaving on the dot of 6.30pm. The surrounding waterways were very busy with lots of different shipping lines. We arrived on the Island just over an hour later after travelling on very calm warm water. Port Piombino was picture book perfect as the sun was setting on the hills behind the town. Another 20 minutes later we made it into Camp La Foce.

A&R's camp site

And what a little surprise that was.

A&R a bit surprised at site

Our camp sites are side by side along the main entrance into the camp - and not a blade of grass in site. Quite different to our NZ camp sites. We are just over the road from the beach which is beautiful, very warm water, with very little tide differential being a Mediterranean beach.

Bill with one or two others!

The beaches here are different to home, in that a lot of them are private, so it will cost you to use them, but they do provide chairs & beach umbrellas.

But the view across the road is perfect.

Of course we are on the public sections of the beach. Same water, same sand, just

Private beach to the left

Private beach to the right

different spot! The weather is consistently hot, over mid 30's every day, great for swimming morning, noon and night if needed.

Lovely cold wines & beers are helping us to cope in such conditions. Plus a gelato or two!

Caio having enjoyed his gelato

The start of our camping in Italy

Bill & I left Switzerland last Tuesday for our camping holiday in Italy,

Devils Bridge on the Gotthard Pass

travelling over the Gotthard Pass from southern Switzerland into northern Italy. For those of you that may not know, there are two routes into Italy this particular way, one through the Gotthard tunnel (16.9 km - the 3rd longest in the world) or more scenic is over the Gotthard Pass climbing up to 2106m high over the Alps. Of course we took the scenic route which I didn't find too difficult climbing up, but a different story coming down the sharp decent on the other side!

The top of the pass at 2106M

We had an almost perfect day to travel, just a little cloud at the top, but still very hot.

Bill playing in the snow at 37 Deg C

It was surprising to see so much snow still lying around with the heat wave that we had been experiencing the past week. At the top of the pass, where everyone stops for photo's of course, we visited the museum and learned a little more on the history of the pass and the people who have travelled over it since the 13th century. I hate to think what sort of track it was then!

The descent into Italy

Then it was a sharp descent down, still in Switzerland, and an almost non existent boarder into Italy, after many tunnels. The roading is just incredible in what we have seen so far of Switzerland and now Italy with so many roads kept high with bridges and tunnels.
At times I keep my eyes shut as my acrophobia tries to kick in, Bill telling me to take photo's as he's driving & getting grumpy with me for not opening my eyes, so I have learnt just to hold the camera up to the window & snap away on the camera (eyes shut the whole time of course so you can imagine the resulting photo's - those ones wont be making it into the blog!)

Top of the Lagoon from our camp

We eventually made it down to Verbania - Lake Maggiore where we were to stay the next 3 nights in the lovely little camp of Le Quiete on the lagoon just off one of the arms of Lake Maggiore. Our views once we came down out of the hills were very hazy,  heavy humidity restricting how far we could see. Early that evening a bit of a breeze came up, rapidly getting stronger, then bringing rain, lots of lightning & thunder.

Hail the size of golf balls

Then! Hail, the size of golf balls, we were a little concerned about our sunroof, the noise was deafening. Then as quickly as it all came, it went. The air a little clearer and slightly cooler, but still in the 30's.
The next morning we rode our bikes into Verbania to catch a boat across the lake to Luini, which is well known for it's huge Wednesday markets. Unfortunately we had missed the two boats that went there that day, but the helpful  lady at the information centre then told us of another place that holds a Thursday market, which we could catch a bus to as it was 30 minute drive away.

Lake Maggiore

So we changed our plan, and spent the day riding, walking around the old parts of Intra & Pallanza on the side of Lake Maggiore. Very pretty, very old, very hot. That high humidity was there again, restricting our views with haze over the lake once again. We found a lovely little cafe by the waters edge for lunch and two very cold beers. Perfect.

Along the Lake front

Half way through, in came the little breeze again, the sky darkened slightly, down came the rain, lightning & thunder, but luckily no hail! All while we sat under a canvas canopy enjoying our meal and watching it pass over. We were a little concerned about having left our sunroof open, but why worry. It was still very hot and would dry out in no time.

The old town of Inter

Bill managed to find another church

Back at camp later in the day, all was good, and time for more swimming in the lagoon on our door step. Our camp didn't have all the children attractions like the camp next door, so when we went into the water from our camp, there was only one or two of us but right next door was crowds of noisy children and families. Amazing side by side.
Thankfully Amanda & Rico who had previously stayed at the camp next door with their children, recommended  Le Quite to us, much more our style of camp.

Cutting granite from the hills

Thursday we were up a little earlier & rode down the road to catch the bus through to Omegna on Lake d'Orta next door.

Market Day at Omegna

The bus passed by a couple of smaller villages, one such one that had it's hillside being cut away for it's granite. Health & Safety is certainly a bit different over here!

Omegna on Lake d'Orta

The Market was lining the western side of the lake and full of stalls selling fruit / veg / cheeses / salami's / clothing / shoes & handbags / and misc. It was great to browse along although very few spoke English, so there was some interesting interactions.
We did buy some clothing, sun hat and food.

Clear creeks run through town

Then it was time for lunch and another cold beer. The temperatures were still up in the late 30's.

The very busy camp next door

Our lovely Le Quiete Camp

Back at camp more "much needed" swimming was had back in the lagoon. The water was amazingly clear but not very cold, but cool enough to be refreshing.
Friday we headed off further south into Italy before meeting up with Amanda & Rico on Saturday in Pisa.
We travelled down the autostrada to cover a lot of country in a short time, coming out on the west coast of Italy at Genoa, Italy's largest sea port, travelling across skyscraper roads that transversed this large City,

Roading through Genoa

then we headed back inland 12km to take the back road connecting Busalla to Lavagna. We spent the night in a little camp on the hillside of Montoggio, where we immersed ourselves right in with the Italians - very little English was understood here. They had a lovely cold local beer which they served with nibbles as they don't like you to drink without food. The barman put out 3 bowls, one with chips, one with olives and the other with peanuts. I thought he was setting up the bar, but no he put all this on a tray with our beers and took it out to where we were to sit, looking out over a green backdrop into the hills.

Walking into "town"

Camp site at Montoggio

We watched boys in their late teens paint out the lines for soccer in the late 30 degree temps, unbothered by the heat. The camp did have a lovely pool which was a saviour at the end of our day.

This was a lovely start to our camping holiday, before meeting up with the Petrillo's (A&R) for the next 3 weeks travelling through Italy.