The Leaning Tower of Pisa, and the Walled City of Lucca

With a decent weather forecast for the day, we headed off down the mountain to go to both Pisa and Lucca. We decided to take the toll road, figuring that it wouldn't be too expensive. Plus, we had a lot to see at our destinations so didn't want to waste our day driving.

When we got off the toll road after a distance of 70 kms (42 miles) and the bill was €8.30 ($12.20 CAD, $9.00 USD). Hmm. Expensive enough!

More travel plans confirmed

We woke up yesterday morning to rain...buckets of rain. It was pouring! And the rain continued on and off all morning. So we stayed put and got caught up on some internet stuff. In fact, it's quite a lot of work planning our onward travels, and so it has to get done sometime.

It might as well have been yesterday. We've now got all of our accommodation booked right up until and including our March 30th to April 3rd stay in Marrakesh, Morocco.

Castles and Yachts

We set out yesterday morning with plans to go to both Lucca and Pisa. But we got a bit of a late start. It was just after 10:30am when we set off down the hill. We got to the valley where the road heads to Brugnato, and sure enough, the "road closed" sign was still there.

So, just like we had to detour the day before, we now had another long detour to contend with.

Detour!

After our long hike on Monday, we were pretty happy just relaxing indoors yesterday morning. Besides, the weatherman was once again wrong, and the sun didn't look ready to make an appearance. So it's not like we were missing a beautiful day.

But we just can't laze around all day, so after lunch we decided to go into the nearby town of Brugnato (pop 1,270) to pick up a few supplies and just wander around.

A long day at Cinque Terre National Park

We had been waiting for a nice sunny day to do the popular hiking trails along the coastline in Italy's Cinque Terre National Park. It had looked like either Monday or Tuesday was supposed to be half decent, because they are forecasting clouds and rain after that.

So we set off at about 8:20am to do the 50 minute drive down the mountain to the coast.

Hiking up in the clouds

We like this area so much that we've extended our stay. We were supposed to leave this coming Thursday, but now we're here the whole week. We'll move on Saturday the 25th.

One of the things we like here is the number of different walks we can do right from the village itself.

Grocery shopping in Italy

We woke up yesterday morning to a heavy wet fog. Quite a change from all the sunshine we've been enjoying for the last several days. The forecast said it was supposed to burn off within a couple of hours, but by 11:00am we still felt like we were up in the clouds,

So we decided to go into the city of La Spezia (pop 95,000) and do some stocking up on groceries and maybe have a walk along the waterfront.

We're pretty sure the whole village must know about us by now!

We love to travel, but moving around all the time can get tedious. So we were really looking forward to staying in one spot for a whole week. And yesterday morning, we did nothing but relax indoors, despite the fact that it was a gorgeous day and we really should have been outside doing something.

We made up for it in the afternoon though!

After yesterday, we are not in the mood to drive anywhere!

Yesterday was a pretty busy day, mostly because of the long drive we did. And driving in Italy is not what you'd call relaxing. By the time we arrived at our destination, I felt like I had just finished a NASCAR race!

We were driving from Rimini to the mountains near La Spezia. Clear across the country! We drove right by Florence, and didn't even stop. Who does that?? But the problem is, there is so much to see in Italy that we have to pick and choose what it is that we want to see. Especially when we only have just under three weeks.

Welcome to the Ancient Land of the Free

The Republic of San Marino is the 5th smallest country in the world. It is only 24 sq miles in area, and has a population of under 35,000 people.

An official Republic since 1600, San Marino remains the oldest constitutional republic in the world, almost twice as old as the second place United States. It's been an independent neutral country since the year 301 when it was founded! And, it's a really fascinating place to visit!

Long driving day!

We left our Airbnb host Fernando at 8:00am when he was ready to leave for work. We had a long driving day ahead, so we didn't mind getting an early start.

We were driving from Bergamo to Rimini...a distance of 335 kms (208 miles). Definitely a long day for us, but even longer because we wanted to stay off the toll highways.

I drive like I'm in a Ferrari...

First order of business yesterday was to get us some wheels. I had booked a super cheap car rental, but we had to go to Bergamo airport to pick it up. We were prepared to take the bus to get to our 10:00am appointment, but our Airbnb host Fernando insisted on driving us.

I booked the car through a rental car reseller...in this case, www.economybookings.com. They don't have a good reputation because they are very strict on the rules when you book. And, you have to pay in advance and there are fees if you cancel.

But, if you follow the rules, and you don't need to cancel,...you can get a great deal!

When in Rome...

We haven't had a "do nothing" day in almost three weeks. And even on our last "do nothing" day, we had still gone for a walk. So, after trekking more than 24 kms (15 miles) in the previous two days, we both agreed that yesterday would be a day of rest.

So we stayed in for the morning and had some computer time and reading. The computer time was productive though, in that I got some more of our future travel plans set into place.

We thought we were going to Milan!

When we first started looking at visiting Italy, our place of arrival was determined by cheap airfare! The flight to get here from Alicante, Spain was on sale, and I booked it without doing much research. In fact, we originally thought we were coming to Milan. The airport was listed on the Ryanair website as Milan (BGY).

So based on that, you'd think you would be flying into Milan, wouldn't you? But, you'd be wrong!

Great first day in Italy!

We woke up yesterday morning to a clean blue sky, sunshine, and warmer than normal temperatures. It's usually a high of around 16C (61F) at this time of year in Bergamo, and they were calling for a high of 22C (72F).

So it didn't take long for us to decide we were going for a hike up the mountain behind us!

We made it to Italy!

We left the apartment in Alicante at about 10:50am. The bus stop for the airport was only a 10 minute walk away, and a bus comes by every 20 minutes. We arrived at the bus stop, and the electronic sign said the airport bus would be there in one minute! Perfect timing!

Sure enough, the bus came by and we paid €3.85 ($5.60 CAD, $4.20 USD) each for the half hour ride to the airport.

Enjoying our last full day in Spain.

I took advantage of our good unlimited internet here in Alicante to do some onward travel planning. We don't tend to book very much in advance, but one of the places we're wanting to visit in Italy is the area in and around Cinque Terre National Park and the five villages that exist on that rugged coastline there. As well, of course, as the hiking trails that link those five villages together.

It's a popular tourist destination, and so I figured I'd better get something booked for us. And because it's popular, it's also quite a bit more expensive!

Missing camera bag!

Had a nice sausage and egg breakfast with Tana and Graham, and then Graham drove us to the city of Alicante (pop 330,000). It was about a 45 minute drive to where we had an AirBnb room booked close to the downtown area.

Alicante is a popular tourist city, and so we didn't have high expectations. And I think that because of our low expectations, we were pleasantly surprised.

Lots of ways to organize a motorhome trip to Europe if you put your mind to it!

It was close to noon by the time we finished getting Louis all cleaned up and our stuff sorted. So we had an early lunch and then at the last minute we got a note from fellow Canadian travelers Dwayne and Lyd who wanted to meet up with us as it looked like our paths were going to be crossing.

And they did!

Our last night with Louis

Yesterday, we drove from Huercal-Overa to an RV park just north of Totana. The drive was only 77 kms (48 miles) and most of it was going to be on a four lane highway, so we decided to go for a hike in Huercal-Overa before heading out.

There was an old watch tower on a hill on the other side of the town. About 4 kms (2.4 miles) each way, so that was a perfect distance from the motorhome aire where Louis was parked.

Nice to have your ducks in a row...

Hit the road about 10:45am yesterday, again headed east towards Torrevieja. We figured we'd put in a little longer driving day on Saturday to allow for two shorter driving days on today and Monday.

Definitely a little more activity on the roads on a weekend. Spain seems to have a lot of active cyclists, and there are even signs on the roads that are popular with recreational cyclists.

Our two month motorhome adventure in Spain is almost over!

Another mountain drive yesterday as we made our way slowly through the villages on the southern border of Sierra Nevada National Park in Southern Spain.

We only did 64 kms (40 miles) from Mecina Bombaron to Canjayar, but it took us almost two hours! The roads are narrow and curvy, although with a nicely paved surface.

Back to the mountains

We headed inland yesterday towards the Sierra Nevada National Park here in Spain. Lots of beautiful views, and again, a sunny clear blue sky.

And along this drive, we didn't see a single motorhome until we arrived at our destination and even then, it was only one other rig.

Free beach camping in Spain

We said goodbye to Paula and Jerry just before 10:00am. We were headed only a few minutes down the road to meet up with Carol and Roelof, blog readers who we had been in contact with a few times over the past couple of years.

We met them at a nearby Lidl grocery store since they usually have sufficient parking for a motorhome, plus we had to pick up some groceries anyhow!

February Expenses... Spain is pretty cheap!

It was a bit of a mixed up month for expenses, because we were part of the month in our motorhome exchange RV, and part of the month in other accommodation where the cost was being shared with Ruth's cousin Helen and her husband Tony who were visiting us for the last two weeks of the month.

And, we bought a new smart phone, the cost of which was a big percentage of our overall expenses for the month.

Goodbye to some friends, and hello to others!

We were all up at just after 6:00am in order to pack up Louis and leave the apartment that we've enjoyed over the last week. We had to get Helen and Tony to Malaga airport for their 10:45am flight back to England.

On the road by 7:30am, and it was almost a two hour drive to do the 115 kms (71 miles), but we did stop to fill the fuel tank along the way.

Living life on the edge!

The Caminito del Rey is a path that was built along a cliff face and gorge high above the Guadalhorce River in order for workers to maintain a hydro dam water channel that ran through the gorge. The original path began construction in 1901, and was completed in 1905.

The original path was constructed of concrete and rested on steel rails supported by bars built into the rock face. It deteriorated over the years and there were a lot of sections where part or all of the concrete top had collapsed. By the 1990's, the result was that large open-air gaps were bridged only by narrow steel beams. 

Really looking forward to this!

Yesterday, we drove about 38 kms (24 miles) north to the city of Osuna (pop 17,800). It had been recommended by our AirBnb host as a daytrip. We did some research on the internet, but it didn't appear to offer much of anything special. Still, we headed on up there to wander around.

We got there around lunchtime and parked at a grocery store on the outskirts of town. In Spain, the majority of stores are still closed on Sundays. So parking at a grocery store for a few hours is no problem at all.

Another great day in Spain!

We relaxed for the morning, and did some computer work. We didn't have a good signal when we arrived here, but the other day they installed some better wi-fi, and now it's working great! While I was doing the blog write up, Ruth walked with Helen and Tony to the grocery store in town. While there, they found out that last night was the big carnival celebration parade in this little town of 1,400 people.

So we made plans to go to the central plaza at 6:00pm to take part in the celebration!

The cave houses of Setenil...amazing!

Definitely better weather yesterday. Not a drop of rain, although there were still lots of clouds coming and going. We packed a lunch and left around 10:30am headed for the town of Setenil de las Bodegas only about 37 kms (23 miles) away.

And we had bypassed the town of Olvera the day before, so the plan was to stop in on our way home if we had time. But, there is just so much to see!

The magical town of Zahara...in the rain!

Not the greatest weather yesterday, but there's too much to see in this area so we're not going to waste any of it sitting inside waiting for blue skies that may or may not come.

So yesterday, we drove over to the mountainside town of Zahara de la Sierra to do some exploring, and despite the weather we are really glad that we did!

Spain Never a Dull Moment on your Trip!

Discover the most enchanting Spanish cruises for their gentle pace and tropical year-round weather. Taking a river cruise is a great way to get a feel for the natural beauty and rich culture of Spain, amidst the unique chance to discover Andalusia. Seville from a different, privileged perspective on board, river cruising along the River Guadalquivir. Also, enjoy the River Guadiana, Spanish-Portuguese border on the coastal bay of Cadiz meets other travellers in a fun and friendly atmosphere.

Smoke in the air

We first noticed it the day before we visited the Cathedral in Seville. A little bit of a haze in the sky. It was worse the next day, and then yesterday it was actually quite bad. We think it's smoke from forest fires, and yet we can't find very much info on the news.

Yesterday was a badly needed day of rest. Although, you know us...we can't sit still for very long. In the morning, Tony went out with the girls for a walk around the town while I caught up on some computer work.

Everything went according to plan...and then some!

Wow...busy day yesterday. Sorry, this is going to be a long blog post! But, entirely worth it because you get to see what we saw.

We had a lot to accomplish. First, I wanted to go buy a new smart phone. Then, we were going to meet Helen and Tony where we would all tour the fantastic Seville Cathedral, then back to Louis the motorhome in order to head to the outskirts of town to do a big grocery shop, then a two hour drive to a small town in the mountains to an AirBnb accommodation where we will spend the next week.

Let's see how smoothly that all goes...

Shopping and exploring in Seville

We're not big on shopping.

While I don't mind shopping online, and we don't mind shopping for groceries, going shopping for anything else is not our idea of fun. But, we need a new smart phone, and to have to buy one while in Spain is a bit of a pain.

So in between exploring, if we came across a store that sold cell phones, Tony and I went inside.

Phone problems!

Yesterday, we drove across the Portugal border back into Spain. I hadn't mentioned it previously, but I've been having problems with the iPhone. This is an older model 4s that our son had donated to us when he upgraded.

It's been suiting our travel needs just fine until we arrived in Barcelona January 2nd and I tried it out with a local Spanish SIM card. At the time, I had to mess with some settings, and got it working. And when we crossed into Portugal, it worked fine there too for several days...until one day last week when it simply wouldn't connect to the internet, and then it wouldn't even receive a signal.

In the market for new luggage...

We're tossing around the idea of getting some new travel gear, and one of the websites we're looking at  is www.eaglecreek.com. Our old wheeled backpacks are still doing fine, but they're looking a little worse for wear. Also, new materials and new designs have made the new wheeled backpacks even lighter and more durable than what was available five years ago.

Given that we're doing more flying on discount airlines here in Europe, we need to be able to stay below their weight and size limits to avoid paying extra.

A much better day!

We didn't have a long drive planned, so before we hit the road we decided to search out the rocky coastline that we originally came to the Albufeira area for. Helen and Tony had checked their photos from when we were here ten years ago, and we managed to find the road that led down to the beach where the trail was.

The beach is called Praia dos Aveiros, and it's just a tiny beach, but it leads to the path taking you to a larger beach to the east.

Not one of our better days...

It was pretty much 10:30am by the time we left Salema Eco Camp and headed east. We had made a rough plan to drive as far as Albufeira. Not for the touristy town itself, but for the rocky cliffs that we remembered exploring when we were all here ten years ago.

But apparently our memories aren't very good!

Portugal's rocky Atlantic coast...

We took Louis for a drive yesterday to explore the Atlantic coast a little bit north of here. It's in the natural park area that takes up much of the south west coast of Portugal, so there are a lot of areas to hike and we were looking for a decent walk.

First, we stopped for fuel and put in just enough to get us back into Spain. Portugal fuel is about 10% more expensive. Ruth and Helen ran into the grocery store to pick up a couple of things, while Tony and I parked Louis across the road.

The seaside town of Salema, Portugal

It didn't turn out to be quite as nice as what they were calling for, but still a decent day and we did see some sunshine and blue sky, with temperatures of around 18C (65F). But it was a little bit windy too. Still, a nice day to go out exploring, so we walked down to the seaside town of Salema.

This is the second blog post today...if you missed it, you can see a tour of our friends Glen and Steve's motorhome here...

http://www.travelwithkevinandruth.com/2017/02/showing-you-another-european-motorhome.html

Showing you another European motorhome

There are a lot of differences between European motorhomes and American motorhomes.

Last month we showed you a short tour of what we're driving over here. Yesterday, our friends Glen and Steve opened their doors for us to be able to show you their motorhome. Instead of taking a bunch of pictures, I figured we'd do a couple of video clips.

We're taking a vacation!

We had to get to Faro airport by 9:30am or so to pick up Helen and Tony. We had been parked for the night only a half an hour away, so we planned to leave around 8:30am. But we had a lot of rain again overnight, and we were parked in an area that got quite soft when it was wet.

We were a little worried about getting out okay!

The campgrounds are busy!

Only about an hour's drive yesterday as we slowly headed down a mountain road towards Portugal's Algarve coast. We wanted to be somewhere close to Faro because we're picking up Ruth's cousin Helen and her husband Tony from Faro airport this morning.

We had a couple of campgrounds to check out in the hopes that they had decent bungalow accommodations available for Helen and Tony. Unlike last April when they visited us with Sherman in San Diego, we don't have room for them here to stay in Louis with us.

Well, at least we got out for a walk...

Woke up yesterday morning and it wasn't raining any longer. We had heard it on and off over night, and this was just a little break because they were calling for it to continue after lunch.

We took the chance of heading out for a walk and into the village of Ameixial, and ended up not getting too wet!