And do we found amazing weather at Milano Maritime. We parked our van at the edge of the beach and just enjoyed the sound of the waves…
Well, just kidding… If you know our kids, you know that silence is 1000 times more precious than gold… And so it is impossible to get before they are asleep. Anyway, with 18C in the night and sunshine instead of the rain on the next day, we could not ask for more 😀
After a long day in Perugia we drove South to spend the night in Umbertide (communal sosta camper).
In the morning we headed to Citta di Castello. Because there was a street market on that day we had a great opportunity to get delicious panini con porchetta! Kids loved it too! But the impressions on the city were overlaid with the market stalls full if clothes, carpets, towels etc.
Sansepolcro, although much smaller than Citta di Castello, seemed more interesting to us.
Although Tuscany and Umbria were really tempting us to stay longer, the weather forecast clear our doubts. Six consecutive days of rain persuaded us to move North to stay nearby Ravenna where the rain forecast were much more acceptable (2 days with light precipitation in the next week).
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…
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 😀
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.
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!
After spending a night at a channel nearby the crooked forest in Gryfino, we went there for a short walk. Indeed it is very interesting to see so many trees bent in a similar manner. Unfortunately it is unclear how and why these distortions were made. They are manmade for sure and the rest is unknown.
After this short visit we moved forward North, to the Dąbie lake, looking for a nice peaceful beach with clear water to swim and cool down a bit (34°C on that day).
In Bystra and Lubczyna the beach was clean and pretty empty, but the water reminded of a green soup.
And so we moved more to the North, to Szczecin Lagoon, to find a very peaceful beach few kilometres after Stępnica, in Czarnocin.
The water was equally green in there, but the views and the emptiness made us stay there for the night 🙂
A lovely place to celebrate the 14th anniversary of us together, with a bottle of wine bought in the winyeard visited few days before from … plastic glasses made for kids by a well known Swidish company 🙂
Anyway, it was served in a perfect temperature 😀
In the surrounding of Zielona Góra one can find several wineyards. Some of them are very small, other bigger. Some owners would have time for the visitors, other wouldn’t… We were lucky to choose Ingrid wineyard to visit on Sunday afternoon. The owner, a smart and very charming lady, shared the story of her last 10 years+ and guided us around. Beautiful place, delicious wine and a very interesting owner!
A good introduction about the winery in the region is given in the centre of winery in Zabór (Lubuskie centrum winiarstwa). A self guided visit with an audioguide is free of charge and will take you about 30min.
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