I woke to a damp bed last Sunday.......the area beneath the window was wringing wet....the window was leaking. So copious wet towels, sheets and cloths later, we were left with the problem of how to get all these things dry, in a space no larger than your smallest bedroom, on a very wet day … Continue reading Wet wet wet

    My sleep was shattered this morning by persistent, monotonous bell ringing, sounding like hammer blows: 'You - will - get - up -now . You- will- go- to -church'. As Alan said, it was like mad monks ringing the bells. Clearly there was to be no peace for the wicked, time to get … Continue reading Giardini di Naxos to Ostuni

It felt like the party was over when we came back to the campsite on Sunday night. All the weekend campers had gone, taking with them their bustle, chatter and liveliness; they'd gone back to Messina, Catania, Siracusa to return to their working week, leaving the rather staid Brits, Swedes, Germans and Austrians to do … Continue reading Donnalucata to Giardini di Naxos – 24 February

    I'm writing this ensconced between polytunnels of tomatoes on a small campsite near Ragusa. I have access to 6 kilometres of sandy beaches, so I'm not complaining. More to the point, I also have unlimited wifi - hooray! It's a beautiful spot, I can thoroughly recommend it. Just jump on a plane to … Continue reading Sciacca to Donnalucata

  The Rough Guide to Italy describes Palermo as being 'filthy, bustling, noisy.......driving in the city is best avoided...' Well that cheered us up as we prepared to drive off the ferry in our 3.5 tonne campervan, not the most agile of beasts! Arriving at 7.30 am the roads were clear, so we raced to … Continue reading Palermo and onwards

Standing dripping in the bath, just like Botticelli's Venus (who am I kidding?!) last Friday, I realised that this was going to be my last bath for quite some time. Yes folks, we were hitting the road the next day, though I must admit we were going to cheat at the start, as we were … Continue reading Cagliari and Christmas 29 January 2016

  It's Monday lunchtime, it must be Italy in January!   Yes, we're back in Sardinia with not a cloud in the sky, much to the desperation of the farmers who haven't seen any real rain since last March! Let's just sit back and enjoy an Aperol spritz....

You don't have to worry about muffin tops in Cyprus. Well that's the conclusion I've reached anyway. I'm talking about those lumpy bits of flesh which hang over your waistband, not burnt currants in your little cakes. The Greek Cypriots (hereafter 'the Greeks', let's do this legal style) like a bit of chubbiness, which is testament … Continue reading Nicosia 30 November

I can't believe I left so much out of my previous ramble! So I didn't tell you about visiting Pienza, where Dustin Hoffman was filming a TV series about the Medicis; no, we didn't see him, just some rather bored actors and numerous backstage bods setting up a square to make it look suitably authentic. … Continue reading Lazio