Why don't we just walk to the airport?

"Well, because people will think we are truly nuts!", says Ruth.

After all, who walks to the airport with their bags? Especially when it's 9 kms (5.6 miles) away. Apparently we do.

From where we were staying, I figured it was a 9 km walk. And either downhill or level the entire way. And, it was a beautiful day and most of the walk was on a paved path that follows the beach in Nice, France.

Monaco...country #32 for us!

If you're staying in Nice, you can't help but want to visit Monaco...the second smallest country in the world. And fortunately, there's a very inexpensive bus service from Nice to Monaco.

So yesterday morning we walked the 2.5 kms from our apartment down to the bus stop at La Port. Buses leave for Monaco every 15 minutes and cost only €1.50 ($2.20 CAD, $1.70 USD) for the 20 km (12 mile), 40 minute trip.

We made it to France!

I can't believe it took us 55 years to make it to France! Country #32 for us. Now, we're only going to see a tiny corner of the country so we'll have to make it back for more at some point. But at least we're here!

The day started off in Savona, Italy. Our train didn't leave until 1:30pm, so we did some computer time and then went for a walk along the waterfront in Savona.

We finally managed to have pizza in Italy!

Travel days are always interesting. You just never know how smoothly things are going to go! And we had quite a lot to accomplish. First, we had to return our little red rental car. We had picked it up at Bergamo airport exactly two weeks ago at 10:00am, so we needed to return it by 10:00am.

And that meant getting an early start.

Crawling across the top of the hiking trail...

First on the agenda yesterday was to get down to the main grocery store in the nearest large town about 4 kms away. We were originally planning on walking down, but with the time change here in Italy early Sunday morning, we were late getting started. The grocery store  closes at 12:30pm on Sunday, so we packed a  lunch and hopped in the car to make that our first stop.

When we had come through this town on Saturday, it was the middle of the afternoon and things were very quiet. So we were surprised to find it very busy, and we even had a hard time finding a parking spot.

It is definitely spring in northern Italy...

Well, our time in Europe is quickly coming to an end. We fly on Thursday from Nice, France to Morocco...Northern Africa. So we're making our way towards Nice. But first, we have to drop off our rental car Monday morning at Bergamo airport. So I found us a place to stay about half way to Bergamo.

So we did that drive yesterday. And we could have taken the toll road almost the whole way. But the more direct route was through the mountains on a narrow curvy road! That sounds much more interesting, doesn't it??

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.