|
|
11-12 November 2004: Leaving France for Italy, Area de Sosta, Highways,
Pizzeria, camping on hillside
|
|
Our first Italian stop
|
|
|
Practicing our Italian
|
|
|
|
Scary highways
|
|
|
|
|
|
Enjoying the sun after the previous late night in the pizzeria
|
|
|
Kids, inspired by views, sketch.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tuscan views
|
|
|
|
A mini garden
|
|
|
Lucha's bed
|
|
|
Suzie
|
Mike
|
Leaving Dutch campground
We set off from the Dutch campground and discovered an urgent need
for new nappies, the last one just having been put on Finn. It was
already 4pm so we hoped to find an open shop. About 5:30 we still hadn't
seen one so we pulled off the highway before St Tropez and succumbed to
giving the children their tea in McDonalds beside a huge supermarket
that said it was open until 9p.m. , but it wasn't. We continued on trying a
few corner-type supermarkets that didn't sell a cush d'infant
I finally saw lights on in a much larger one in a town only to discover
the only reason the lights were on was because there were workmen fixing
a huge pane of glass. I began to think France had gone to sleep. We
stopped at an all night bakery for bread and the woman explained it was
a national Fete day, but we would find one large supermarket open in the
next town. It was a Geant, and it really was giant. And even though it
was by now 9p.m. , it was packed. Luckily 3 people let me go
ahead of them with my 1 pack of nappies. We continued on the coast road
so that we could drive through Monaco and look at Monte Carlo. We then
headed for Italy and decided to get on the highway to speed our way.Italian motorways
Mike was driving and it proved to be a terrifying experience which we
only stuck for about 40 minutes. It was dark, the highway had masses of trucks
that beeped at us for going too slow, and precipices beside every large
bridge as well as tons of tunnels. Earlier along the coast before Nice,
Mike had been shaken by the proximity of the dark sea with waves lapping
against what seemed like the edge of the road. He can tell you what
memories that conjured up, but it was really the wind on the Italian
highway that finished us off.
Area di Sosta
So we got off in **** and followed signs
with pictures of campers on, and Area di Sosta beneath. It was past 10
o'clock when we found it, and the gate was half shut, but we were
desperate so Mike opened it and we pulled in beside the other campers
for a good night's sleep.
As often happens after a night of terror in melodramatic novels and
short stories, the morning dawned bright and clear and warm as toast. We
couldn't believe the heat of the sun at 8 o'clock. We poured out of the
camper, the children playing and Mike and I basking. We took a slow
morning with breakfast and Mike having another check on the engine and
fraternising with the natives, who were the first Italians we had
encountered. I really enjoyed watching some men jump start a truck, as
the discussion and advice and debate over how to do it at a distance
involved a great deal of hand gesticulation. We seemed to be following a
pattern of heading off at noon, which isn't a bad time to drive in Italy
because everyone's gone to have their lunch. It does mean that when you
want to pull in for food, the shops are shut and when we are ready to
eat our lunch at around 3 or 4, the restaurants are all closed again.
Lunch
When we left we had tackled the scary high way again. There was still
a good bit of wind but I managed to take a turn and even coped with the
tunnels. As I was driving, I could no longer close my eyes through
them. After trying a few coastal towns off the highway for lunch, we
found one big enough to have a bar that served pasta, and were very
entertained as Finn sucked up his first bowl of Italian spaghetti. The
waitress was very friendly and our blondies seemed to attract a lot of
attention from her and other passers by. For dessert we tried an Italian
bakery with a great fun senora who sold us several bags of Italian fancy
biscuits that had Sammy's eyes popping out of his head. One Mike and I
particularly liked name translates as "lady's kisses". Eli adored the
baby merangues
We set off again, hoping to get close to Tuscany. We had phoned
a WWOOFer host there, asking could we park the van in their farm for the
night, as we were WOOFERs on the way south.
Pizzeria
Despite advice to visit, we decided to bypass the beautiful city of
Pisa with its famous tower as it was dark and the going on the highway
was good, having finally left behind the tunnels bridges and wind. We
turned inland for Florence and managed to get to the far side by the
time we were tired and needing to pull off for food. We arrived in a hilltop
village called Marcialla. The street narrowed and we slowed to pass a small pizzeria
(La Taverna del Faraone) to
see if it was open. The proprietor was standing outside and with a
friendly smile beckoned us to come in. We parked on the piazza and
carried awakening children into his little restaurant. We had promised
the children pizza for Shabbat in Italy, and were able to make good on
it.
The food livened them up as did the in house singer with his techno piano
reverb Italian songs. And Finn amused the other diners by dancing
enthusiastically and visiting everybody. There was a great atmosphere
and we felt like we were dining with everybody else. Then some older
couples got up and had a waltz. It was like something out of a movie;
hard to believe it wasn't just put on for us tourists. The deserts were
the crowning moment of the evening, with chocolate ice cream and torte
to die for. We had headed towards this village because of a sign for
camping but on enquiry were told it was shut. So our proprietor gave us
various Italian versions of nods and winks to indicate he would sort it
out. So after paying, two of the other diners walked us back to the
piazza hopped in a little car, beckoning us to follow, belted off down
the hill, and showed us a little area just inside the gate of
somebody's olive grove. Once again we slept well, this time helped by
the nice Italian wine that accompanied our pizza, and feeling very
content with our first authentic Italian experience. Probably also
helped by the wine, Mike and I just kept giggling about it all.
Morning on hillside
Once again we awoke to a gorgeous morning and were stunned to
discover that we were sitting on the top of a hillside with a
breathtaking view of Tuscany. There were olive groves beneath us, terra
cotta topped houses scattered amongst oak woods, where we could hear
early morning hunting. Judging by the last night's menu, probably for cinguale
(wild pig). There are pine tree here, a kind of thin cone shaped one, that look
like they have been planted in the landscape by a decorator or artist. Eli and Rosa were both affected by the view and took out their
sketch books to capture it. We had fun squeezing our first olives from a
tree and were amazed how much oil readily comes out of them. Just down
the hill from our camping spot there was an old woman in a small house
with chickens and a cockerel that delighted Sammy and Finn. Her daughter
arrived at the top of the lane in a little car, greeted us, and shouted
Mama and a plethora of other things until the old lady came slowly up the hill
and got into the car, not before exchanging greetings with us and
especially with Cal.
Cal, I realise, has had very little mention in this journal so far,
and she is doing remarkably well, but obviously truly loves our stops
where she can explore. She gets a lot of attention from most people she
meets. |
Newbie work
3 & 4 valves were tight again! I adjusted them, did points and
retimed, but am wondering what's going on.
Leaving Dutch campground
We finally left late in the day (4pm) and headed towards Italy. Out
of nappies and was a French festival day so had a hard time finding an
open shop. Went through the fancy Med coast cities (Nice, etc) with
Casinos, fast sports cars, amazing houses build up the mountainsides,
huge yachts and posh marinas. Through Monaco very briefly got a view of
the palace. Roads are VERY winding going up and then down - sometimes
seems like they are having a laugh with all the hairpin turns. Newbie
struggled up in low gears; the French are happy to follow one inch
behind you but won't actually pass you until they are in a passing zone.
I don't like the dark water at close to the road beside us when we are
low down - very Jaws-ish or something.
Crossing the border
As we neared the border, a car of very Italian looking lads waved and
flashed a peace sign - in contrast with the reserved French. We crossed
the border and then the driving got more familiar. We drove through the
first Italian towns and kept saying "we're in Italy... they're
Italians... real Italian pizza!" Lots more places open late night,
including coffee places.
Scary Motorways
We were making slow progress so decided to get onto the motorway. The
climb up from the coast took ages, and when we finally got to the
motorway it felt like we must be on top of Italy. At night, the motorway
consists of bridges with deep darkness down both sides, where high winds
turned our campervan into a big yacht sail, and long tunnels through the
mountains. Every bridge and tunnel is announced by a sign with its name
and length - the longest tunnel was something like 1.5 km. Some of the
gusts gained temporary control of my steering.
Area di Sosta
It really was too much, especially at night, so we got back onto the
coast road with relief, and eventually found a camper stop - no one
around but one of the gates was open so we went in as quietly as we
could and set up for the night.
Normal morning, except it was warm, long before the sun reached our
site. About 11 am it was almost 30 degrees C and the kids were looking
for "nice shady places".
I did Newbie work with Rosa's help, and Sammy and Finn also joined
in, all wearing my spare rubber gloves. Valves 3 and 4 valves were tight
again, also valve cover gasket on right was torn so I changed both.
Changed the plugs: 3 & 4 were black while 1&2 were brown. Also checked
points -ok and retimed. Afraid to adjust idle because (1) not sure which
screw to turn and (2) Didn't want to mask another problem. I have
to get to an internet cafe soon to see what the lads on Type2Ireland
think of what's happening with Newbie's engine!
When I was digging for spare parts way in back I found a pile of torn
paper, looks like we definitely have a mouse passenger!
Went to find someone to pay - found a compact Italian lady who spoke no
English but figured out the reception people would be back in a while.
Had some coffees and hot chocolates from a machine and eventually the
women who worked there showed up and I paid just 8euro. We left and thought we'd
brave the motorway again.
In daylight you can see how far up the bridges are, so it is best not to
look down. Driving was still hair raising: vento forte (strong winds),
trucks passing so close they pulled us towards them. We also got honked
at despite being in the righthand line, I assume this was because we
were doing less than the minimum speed limit. I stopped for a break at a
service station and found the best selection of car and truck parts and
accessories, but no crisps! Got an Italian atlas and Suzie took over
driving. Driving much the same, it must have taken 20 minutes to pass
the city of Genova.
|
Lucha
|
|
oh oh and I was being so careful too. They
hadn't missed the odd Olive and that smelly cheese doesn't show teeth
marks for long, but Mike needed some tool or other and dug deep and
found my bed. It took me so long to make and was lovely and cosy right
above the engine bay. Oh well I'll have to be more careful. |
|
|