Montemarcello

There were quite a few vans on the aire last night. The couple next to us were German, but they displayed a Spanish registration plate.

Next to the Germans, a young Spanish couple, in a short wheel based, Ford Tourneo van, which had been converted into a compact campervan, which we were impressed with. So that was that, German and Spanish night! At eleven o' clock, we thought their noisy talk should be reduced. We understand, that in Spain, they don't go out of an evening to eat, until ten, ten thirty. But this was Italy, some of the vans had families with young children in them, and we could see the wine and chatter going on a while yet. So at eleven fifteen, John asked if they could quieten down a bit. The German man was very apologetic, but the young Spanish girl, a little opinionated. But just after twelve, they returned to their own vans. At seven o' clock this morning, the Germans beat a hasty retreat, not wanting to face the music from the other van owners. We sound like right miserable English, don't we?

As we walked up to the town this morning, we passed a hen, we named Hetty, busily pecking at the ground, and a white goose.

The goose became very animated when it saw John trying to take its photograph, and lunged through the opening of the gate, to take a peck at his mobile phone. The town was quiet.

Sat on an outside light in a porch area, we saw a pair of swallows, sheltering in the shade, from the already warm morning sun. Outside a shop that specialised in truffles, there was a very large bottle of wine on display, obviously for advertising purposes, which we stopped to look at. Seizing an opportunity, the owner of the shop rushed out, tearing open a packet of truffle flavoured crisps at lighting speed, for us to sample. Taking no for an answer, he proceeded to try and show us more and more truffle products. To escape from him, John said 'we were just poor English, but don't worry, there were some rich Americans heading his way from the top of the road'.

Shortly after leaving Vinci, we stopped at a coop for yet more supplies, and also to sort out Marge's squeaky clutch pedal. We couldn't believe that Marge II had developed this problem, as the same thing had happened last year to Marge I, when we were in Spain. A spray of trusty WD40, and Marge was lubricated back into action.

Tonight's stop is high on the hill at Montemarcello. After a slow drive up, mostly in second gear, we arrived. There was some confusion as to where we should park. Luckily some provincial police officers turned into the parking area, obviously a message had gone out that the Hampton's had arrived! They confirmed where we were allowed to park overnight, and now Marge is squeezed into rather a tight spot. But we have a view towards the hills, whose tops keep disappearing in and out of the cloud.

In a garden quite close to us, we spotted a cockerel. Oh dear, looks like this will be our early morning call, instead of the usual clanging of church bells. Not long after we arrived, a Dutch couple in their seventies turned up. It was half past four, and out came their camp chairs and table, and a bottle of white wine. At a quarter past six they were well into a second bottle. The Dutch lady was wearing a boob tube. (Shouldn't there be an upper age limit for wearing one of these?). As her voice raised from the alcohol, the boob tube began to slip!

A half mile walk from here, takes you down to the cove, but we just walked out as far as the viewpoint, where an Italian man lent us his binoculars to use, to see along the coast, albeit a little hazy.

The cove is only accessible by foot or boat. The sea here is the vibrant blue of the Mediterranean.

A few metres away from us is a restaurant called Locanda della Nonna, (Grandmothers Inn).

Tonight as Johns treat we enjoyed two fantastic pizzas and a very good bottle of local wine. It was nice to take a breath, sit down on the terrace, relax listen to the jazz music, playing inside the restaurant. You think we're on holiday, well if we're not driving, we're cycling or walking. or shopping for food, or handwashing our clothes, or cooking, or washing up, or blogging, so you see it 's all pretty full on!

Tomorrow, we will have to decide how long we stay in Italy before travelling back into France. We understand the heavy rains that England has recently suffered are now passing into France, and will probably last about a week. We are wondering now if we were a little hasty in deciding to start turning back.

Vinci

Last night, we slept much better, but still woke up early, as we do every morning. Over breakfast we discussed our loose plan for the day. We say loose, because the plan has a habit of changing due to circumstances. Which is just what happened today. We had originally decided to visit Florence, being so close by, it seemed wrong not to take the opportunity. We had read on the internet that some people had, had their vans broken into there, but we sourced a recommended 'secure' car park on the internet, and set off. As always we mistimed our arrival, It was 12 noon, just the time the Italians break for lunch, and it seemed like every car, scooter and motorbike had taken to the roads. But Marge, now fairly fearless, having learnt a few tricks on Italian driving, got amongst the people of Florence. Upon arriving at the recommended car park, which sounded perfect, as it would have only been a fifteen minute cycle ride into the city, we both had the same gut feeling, as did the German couple who arrived just after us. The van would not be safe here.

So we changed our plans, and thought about moving onto Lucca. But after some research on the internet, we decided to also give it a miss, as van security there was also a major problem.

So after our false starts, we headed straight to tonight's aire, at the small town of Vinci. Yes, as in the one and only, Leonardo da Vinci, inventor, painter, sculpture, master of drawing. He was born in Anchiano, a nearby village. As it had been so hot today, we decided to do the sensible thing, and walk up to the town later in the afternoon.

It was a fifteen minute walk to the town, uphill as always. The town was quiet, the day visitors now gone, leaving just a few local people, and the camper people from the aire to mill around, which was great, as we were able to take a lot of photographs without some random person appearing in it. Except for Angela, who always seems to have the same man wandering into the shot.

The views from the town, of the breathtaking Tuscan countryside were amazing from every angle. As we walked around taking in the sights and exhibits, the heady smell of jasmine, growing up the walls of the houses and restaurants, filled the air.

We took a look inside the church, where Leonardo was baptised, the original font used, still in there today. The modern lectern and alter of carved olive wood were stunning.

Tomorrow, we will head back to the town to visit the four Leonardo museums. This evening we obtained a map from the Tourism office, so we are already to go. It will be nice to be able to set off straight after breakfast, without having to drive somewhere, find somewhere to park Marge, and then tired from the heat and the travelling, set off on foot to explore.

Four weeks tomorrow, we return to England. We can't believe how quickly this last week has passed by. To date we have now travelled just over 2,600 miles.

But for now, we will enjoy the bells from Vinci's church, which we can see from our aire, and the late evensong of the birds.

Siena

To escape the warm confines of Marge, late yesterday evening, we took a walk out across the car park. On turning round to come back, we were greeted by a spectacular view. The church situated behind our van, was lit by soft orange and yellowing white light.

The dark sky behind, like a black canvas, allowing the building to shine in all its glory. To the left, the bright light of the crescent moon, equally striking.

A beautiful start to Sunday morning. At eight o' clock, the vans were already coming down from the narrow streets of the town above, with luggage to be loaded onto the waiting coaches. By nine o' clock, the coach park was full. We were kept entertained by the incoming visitors. One coach had quite a few nuns on board, and we were amused by one of them, whose habit was topped off, by a bright orange baseball cap! One of the other coaches, turned out a party of children. One of the adult supervisors with them was a little on the large size. We noticed she wasn't asked to carry the bag containing the packed lunches!

On leaving Assisi, we stopped in a lay-by to photograph the cathedral. We could see all the lighting rigs that had been set up, for a charity concert, that will be broadcast from here on Monday.

A calm easy drive today, crossing from Umbria back to Tuscany, a land of pretty farmhouses, and acres of greenery. We were pleased to be back in this lovely area. By lunchtime we had reached Siena.

Just after we'd finished our lunch, a German couple in their seventies, pulled in with a very long motorhome. Enquiring if we would be staying the night, they decided to stay as well. They seemed nice, unlike 'Herr Unlucky' who was next to us in Vieste. We think of him from time to time, and wonder who he's entertaining in his underwear now!

It took fifteen minutes to walk up hill to the medieval city. The temperature in the shade 34c. The heat had caused both us to suffer from swollen ankles this morning, so we hoped a good long walk would help sort out the problem. Siena is a city with the 'wow' factor.

The impressive Piazza del Campo, on the site of an old roman forum, is looked over by the equally impressive Palazzo Publicco and Torre del Mangia, which stands eighty eight metres high.

An added bonus in the piazza was a display of Ferraris, courtesy of a local enthusiasts club. In the skies above the piazza, hundreds of swifts flew busily through the air.

As we trod the streets of Siena we marvelled at the architecture. It was nice to be back amongst culture.

Our ultimate quest was to find the Duomo di Siena. When we first caught a glimpse of it, we knew we were about to see something very special. It is a cathedral with presence. It's columns and block-work were marble, including some of the famous Tuscan red marble. The intricate carving was both detailed and fascinating. This marvellous building is up there in the top five best places we've seen in Italy. We sat for a while in the shade of the building, but the sunlight was so bright, Angela resorted to putting her beanie hat on, which always results in John calling her 'Helmet Schultz'? (after Sergeant Schultz from the 60's WW2 comedy 'Hogan's Heroes, Google for more info). After three hours of walking around, we returned to Marge for a shower and a cool down. Our ankles looked a little better from the exercise. Whilst we were cooking our evening meal our German neighbours returned. And guess what, he dropped his trousers! Honestly. It must be a German thing! They are a really nice couple who have motorhomed to every country in Europe except Russia and the Ukraine. On the side of their van is a beautiful hand painted view of an oasis painted by a Moroccan whilst travelling in that country.

Finally a photo of a visitor who drop through the skylight into our bathroom, a Rhinoceros Beetle, luckily only around an inch and a half long, they can grow quite large!