Into Tuscany

Mid September 2024, Storm Boris was brewing on the Adriatic Sea, making the best path south to Civitavechia and the ferry to Tunisia over the mountains via Bologna into Tuscany.

And it’s beautiful hilltop towns and cities.

One of the most spectacular of the hill top cities is San Gimignano

It’s popular to visit but not as busy as nearby Florence that I visited back in 2022.

In the city, it’s all walking and full of activity.

Across a little valley from San Gimignano there’s a campground in the little village of Santa Lucia

With a terrace where you can watch a balloon rise over San Gimignano.

As it was coming to the end of the season, so finding a place to camp at Principina a Mare right near the beach.

The beach at Principina has amazing beach shelters made from driftwood.

Out of Tuscany and into Lazio, there was time for a lunchtime time stop in Tarquinia.

That night it was the ferry to Tunisia.

But before then a stop in the Australian summer.

Sicily- Ortigia and Etna

Having managed some sleep on the chaotic overnight ferry trip from Cagliari (Sardinia) to Palermo (Sicily), arriving at 5am, there was plenty of time to cross the Island to Syracuse.

While the heat wave conditions in Europe had eased, it was still summer, and at Syracuse, the Mediterranean called.

Ortigia is an ancient walled city on a little Islet in Syracuse. Its history dates back to 700bc. Its been Phonecean, Greek ,Roman,,, and now Italian.

Mount Etna looms over the east coast of Sicily, huffing and puffing steam and smoke.

The European and African push together in Sicily, and it’s at Etna that the steam of that collision is let off.

The road around Mount Etna is a fantastic ride up the mountain to the high village where there is a gondola and unimog bus to the volcano craters.

The steam coming from the Etna was impressive. Especially given that there had only recently had an eruption.

Sicily is close to northern Africa and is a frontline destination for people escaping was and issues of changing climate in Africa.

In Syracuse, a humanitarian rescue ship is replenishing.

At the harbour at Messina, there is a memorial to those who have died fleeing war and hunger.

Then, it was another ferry to Calabria on the Italian mainland.

Dorgali to Santa Maria Navarrese on the west of Sardinia.

Dorgali is a sprawling city in mountains on the west coast of Sardinia.

It has some beautiful street art and if you are prepared to walk up some steep steps wonderful views to be had.

But it’s the road south through the mountains on the western side of Sardinia that is the real reason for going to Dorgali.

This road is in perfect condition and the views sublime!

Santa Maria Navesse is a beautiful coastal village. There are a number of good quality camping grounds right on the clean beach.

Just a beautiful place to end an amazing ride.

For those considering the ferry from Cagliari to Palermo then it’s a nice ride to catch the evening overnight ferry.

The quiet of Santa Maria Navesse was in total contrast to the absolute chaos of the Grimaldi Lines ferry to Sicily. But that’s a story for another blog!

Sardinia

It’s only an hours ferry ride from Bonifacio in Corsica to Santa Teresa Gallura in Sardinia. The islands are visible to each other.

The skipper does a mighty job of backing th ferry into the narrow port at Santa Teresa Gallura.

As it was late afternoon it was off the ferry and on the road to the little mountain village of Telti.

That night the harvest festival was being celebrated and the town plaza was full of people music and dancing. Amazing given it was quite hot.

A pretty little village near the wine and cheese making centre of Monti.

I love the murals that adorn these little villages.

But the next heat wave was about to hit Sardinia so it was time to seek the cooler coastal climates. On the road to The coastal city of Alghero it hit 43c before miid day. Telti was hit with a reported 47c.

We were lucky there were air conditioned rooms at the local rugby club in Alghero. Just across the road from the beach.

The sun was so hot I pulled out the cover for the mighty Breva.

But after a swim, a cold beer and the cool evening breeze blowing it was time to catch the bus into the old Spanish town. For the evening.

That’s the next blog!

Vignettes in Tuscany

After crossing the Cols from France into Italy (http://piecemealadventurer.com/2022/09/06/three-col-passes-to-italy/) I headed south to the Mediterranean coast and then east to Tuscany as I had a little time before I wanted to be at Lake Como.

From Savona to Lavante the road winds from coastal Mediterranean and over the headlands and through the sprawling city of Genova.

How lucky was I when this lovely young Swiss couple couple asked my to join them for dinner in Trigosa.

Next day it was a long ride along the coast to Tuscany and the village of Altopascio.

Murals around the town mark that the village is a stop on the pilgrim trail with many walkers in the village.

A day in Florence gave me a taste of the beautiful city and a plan to return.

Over the mountains from Altopascio is the other iconic city of Bologna. Famous for inventing Bolognese sauce, lasagne and mortadella so a city famous for its food and for its porticos.