Italy and Corsica

[Donnydid]

Hi There!

Fantastic trip you had and some fantastic photo's, what camera did you use?

Cheers
Dave

[honesty]

I've camped in Sardinia before and as you say all the campsites are bare earth. We did stay in one though which I thought was great purely because it had a name right out of pirates of the Caribbean- Tortuga.

[il padrone]

By any chance, do you also have these up on a website where the lot can be seen at once?

Hi Dan, glad you liked them. Yes they are up on Photobucket.

Here for  Rome and Sicily

Here are the Sardinia and Corsica photos

And here for Genoa, the Cinque Terre and Tuscany.

Fantastic trip you had and some fantastic photo's, what camera did you use?

Hi. For the first section, up until partway through Sicily, I used a Lumix TZ30 digital 'point and shoot'. This was a really nice camera that I feel took great photos, but near Sciacca the zoom failed  - no go. So from then on I used a Canon Powershoot A4000 that I bought over there. I have never felt that this camera captured the colours of scenes nearly as good as the Lumix.

[Danneaux]

Hi Dan, glad you liked them. Yes they are up on Photobucket.

Thanks much, Pete!

Will head right over to enjoy them all at greater length.

All the best,

Dan. (...who would surely enjoy taking a similar tour someday -- Yes!  )

[il padrone]

I've camped in Sardinia before and as you say all the campsites are bare earth. We did stay in one though which I thought was great purely because it had a name right out of pirates of the Caribbean- Tortuga.

The best camping/caravan park we stayed at - Rosselbe di Palme on Isola d'Elba. They had toilet paper provided and hot water for dishes  But this was a camping area that cost us 50 Euro per night for the unpowered site   We only stayed one night and I think they really could not understand why we didn't stay longer.

[jags]

yeah you can get ripped off in italy big time,we hadn't booked a place to stay in rome on our last day. it cost us 200 euro for b/b in a old time hotel nice mind you  but i didnt want to but a share in the feckin place just a bed for the night.

you shoudd have headed for the beach.

[il padrone]

Apparently bush camping, beach camping and random stealth camping is rather looked down upon in Italy.

[il padrone]

Here are some more photos - the mainland tour in Genoa, Cinque Terre and through Tuscany.

We toook trains from Genoa to Riomaggiore and then from Riomaggiore to Pisa. Missed out on riding through the Garfagnana region, but getting to the Cinque Terre was always going to be difficult by bike - very steep roads inland or very busy roads along the coast (the Riviera di Levante ).


Arriving at Genoa


Genoa is full of gracious streets


....huge cathedrals


....ancient city gates


....18th-19th century splendour


.....and grand palaces


The streets get very steep at the back of town


The station at Riomaggiore


Riomaggiore seafront


Walking trail goes through someone's building


Vernazza


Walking trail to Monterossa


In Pisa


That tower really does lean !!


Bike parking, Pisa


Roman amphitheatre, Lucca


Resting up on a 37 degree afternoon, Montelupo


Basilica Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence



Hermes in the Loggia


More statuary


Giardini di Boboli


Michelangelo's unfinished facade of the Church of San Lorenzo


"Always a dog...."


Working bicycles display at the Musee Galileo - the knife-sharpener's bike


Porta Romana


Olive groves and villas


Salumi vendor at Greve in Chianti. Does that boar look worried?


The rolling hills of Tuscany


Siena in sight in the far distance


Procession of the people of the 'Waves' quarter crowds the streets of Siena


Riding along Via Montagnini, Siena


Piazza di Campo


The walled town of Monteriggioni


At Colle Vall d'Elsa, where we managed to take different roads and spent the night apart, in separate hotels in separate towns  


Streets in Colle Alto, the old citadel (accessed via an elevator in the hill)


View of San Gimignano from the Torre Municipale


On the road towards Volterra


Lines of poplars along driveways


One of the gates in Volterra's city wall


View back to Volterra on the hilltop


The centro storico of Montecatini Val d'Cecina


Steep climb into the hills..... but turned out to be a wild goose chase


Windpower is big in Italy


Our agriturismo accomodation at Casino di Terra


In the village of Bolgheri


Vineyards aplenty along the Strada del Vino


Lunch at a steetside cafe with a view


Steep streets in Castagneto Carducci


Sassetta


Medieval town centre in Suvareto


One church that actually rings the real bells, Suvareto


Along the coast of Isola d'Elba

[il padrone]

And some more of Isola d'Elba (where my grandparents hale from)


Ashore at Portoferraio


HUGE motor launch in the port


Streets of Portoferraio



A nice local brew


Botannical garden in the camping ground


On the road on Elba


Piazza in Capoliveri


An iconic village scene


Hotel room view at Capoliveri


On a coastal loop  road past Inammorata and Tenute dell Ripalte


11.30pm on the streets of Capoliveri


Popular beach at Lacona


Lovely beach at Marina di Campo


Waterfront at Chiessi


Coastal road on the west coast of Elba


Poggio piazza for lunch


Leaving Isola d'Elba


Sunflowers near Punte Ala


A very nice double malt beer


Views from Castiglione della Pescaia


Bike path ride into Grossetto


Grossetto cathedral with its sundial


The end of our cycling for this tour


We had a few days in Rome to finish off




Cathedral roof art


In the Pantheon


And that concludes a marvellous three months touring Italy. Nothing left but to fly home to 3 degrees welcome in Melbourne  

[jags]

WOW pure magic hard to take it all in, you  restored my faith in italy.

[honesty]

Your making me feel all misty eyed. I haven't managed to get over to see family for a few years. Personally I think Siena is one of the best cities in Italy.