September 2020 – Stories from our van tour

Perugia

Oh my!!! This city is a nightmare if you want to park a camper! There are probably no flat streets, just the ones going 25% uphill or downhill 😉 Anyway, after 40 minutes of sweating and swearing we drove politely to a parking for campers placed very far away from the centre, but at least it is easy to access. We walked to the train station and took the minimetro to reach the old town.

It was worth the efforts though! The buildings are not amazing, but their size and height made a huge impression… Actually lenses in our cameras were not wide enough to capture most of the arches and buildings…

Trevi and Spello

29 September 2020 / malaMi / 0 Comments

We wanted to sleep somewhere nearby Spello but could not find a suitable place. They were all with beautiful view, buy too inclinated to spend a night. So we ended up sleeping just on the outskirts of Trevi, a small but interesting village.

Spello is well worth spending there a half of a day or a full one. Beautiful small and narrow streets, full of flowers and stone houses. And a playground at the gates to the historical centre. Everyone was happy 😀

Gubbio and Assisi

28 September 2020 / malaMi / 0 Comments

Umbria is beautiful! Old and gorgeous!

As our heads were pretty busy the evening before, setting the plans for the next couple of months and return to Italy for living, I did not have time to prepare the sightseeing… That is why we ended up in two gorgeous cities like that on one day. Do not repeat our mistake and count a full day for each place. They deserve it!

We parked our van next to the stadium and the paid camper service, on a large and free parking about 10min walking (with kids) from the Roman amphitheatre.

After trying piadina romagnola at the Dry Bar (delicious!) We headed to Assisi for even more picturesque views.

Assisi said goodbye to us with rain and a rainbow.

Le Marche – towards Gubbio

27 September 2020 / malaMi / 0 Comments

A short stop in Barchi, Marche was entertaining mostly for kids. A playground in small old towns are not too popular so we all were pretty surprised to find this one inside the town walls.

Fossombrone – much larger than the previousy seen small, charming towns. And also less charming, but equally hilly and with narrow steep passages.

After climbing the top of the city, running downhill, to reach our van before the rain started for good was very entertaining 😀

We drove to Cagli in rain and stayed there overnight, just at the edge of Arena di Sant’ Emidio. Killing time with Lego is always fun, regardless of the age!

Cagli – we have never searched for a caffee for so long time as in here. Finally we had one at our van 😀

A bit of Le Marche: Corinaldo, San Lorenzo in Campo and Mondavio

27 September 2020 / malaMi / 0 Comments

After buying Italian SIM cards to get more internet access we drove inland towards beautiful hills quickly changing into real mountains.

The weather was on the rainy autumn’s side so before visiting Corinaldo, our first destination, we waited out the rain in a great camper service (sosta camper) very close to the old town centre. We dared to have a walk in the evening, but got wet pretty quickly and ended up in Osteria Pozzo Divino that is serving… Pinse (a type of pizza on a ticker dough). Nice service and a reasonable food!

In the morning we took another chance to visit the town. It is worth a longer walk, you will not be disappointed!

Next on our way was San Lorenzo in Campo. Much smaller and a bit disappointing.

We ended the day in Mondavio. A lovely but very small town with a great parking for campers (sosta camper) again (all facilities free, including the electricity).

The morning in Mondavio greeted us with a surprise lying on the floor in front of the passanger (my!) seat. It was our little passanger… I guess it will haunt me in my dreams for some time but at least our van’s insulation and wiring is safer now.

Chasing a mouse and relaxing at the seaside

24 September 2020 / malaMi / 0 Comments

Since we left Poland, mostly in the evenings, we heard noises coming from under the floor or from behind the cupboards. Yes, that was a mouse… Although we have never seen it “onboard” we found its traces in several places, including cupboards (with no food inside). With six traps of two kinds: a glue one and a more humanitarian that will not hurt its visitor, we used several lures: biscuits, bread, chocolates, sausage and würstel. Only the latter one was interesting for our passenger, but unfortunately not interesting enough to get it inside the trap… Too bad… Hearing how it demages the interior of our home and imaging all the half eaten cables hidden in places so difficult to reach, was too much for us and so we decided to try the last resort… to poison it… Our passenger found the poison very attractive and a huge part was missing just an hour after we placed it. So now we are waiting…

In the meantime we enjoy the last summer days at the seaside in Pinarella di Cervia and camping Adriatico.

Chasing the warmth and hoping for relaxing part 2

21 September 2020 / malaMi / 0 Comments

As today rain and colder weather were expected in our previous location, we moved South again, to Cervia. Let’s see if the weather predictions are correct and if gained few days of summer more?

At this time of the year the town is almost empty. As well as is the camping (Adriatico) or the beach 🙂

Taking photos with Julia nearby is not an easy task… 😉

Lazying part 1

20 September 2020 / malaMi / 0 Comments

As we needed some relaxed time, we decided to use the last (?) summer days for relaxing at the beach and in a swimming pool. Villaggio San Francesco in Duna Verde is a place to recommend! The campsite was 30% (or less?) full, the swimming pools were a great attraction for our kids and a warmer alternative to the sea.

And within a 10min walk along the beach there are several restaurants and bars that will not leave you hungry!

Grado in Italy

18 September 2020 / malaMi / 0 Comments

Considering the cold evenings and nights in Poland we decided to take advantage of the sun and warmth still available in the Southern Europe. The closest (and the easiest) was to drive to Italy.

A little bit more than 1000km and we reached the Adriatic Sea in Grado.

It felt really good to have italian pizza for a dinner. We really missed the Mediterranean food…

30°C in the evening made it pretty difficult to fall asleep but the next days should be a little bit colder (26°C) and we will be looking for some shade for the van.