The Ligurian coast

Wednesday 1st Oct

We made it through the first month ( Brent here ). Set off around Lake Garda today. Very spectacular views with mountains rising up to dizzy heights, the road cutting through the bluffs using tunnels. Stopped in a small village on side of lake wind was high but sun was out making white topped waves. Planned to stay in Riva la Garda at the end of the day but found it very modern and uninspiring so carried on to the western shore. We eventually came across another small village called Limone, where we found a room for the night. It was in a spotless hotel, unlike anything you'd find at home...sort of felt more like a prison, or a hostel but no young people.We actually managed to barter the price down by threatening to look elsewhere. So far we have been really poor at this so both felt we might be getting somewhere. Anyway we got an excellent breakfast included in the price, which was great. Limone was another charming little town, with ferries across the lake and lots of little restaurants.

Thursday 2nd October.
The day started very overcast with mist over the mountains on the other side of the lake. We had talked of two alternatives. One was to head further east and explore some of the other lakes. The other was to head down to the med where Linda had found a walk in one of our guidebooks which was between five villages. Strangely it was called the five villages walk. So we drove south in search of sun and sea. By mid day the sun was shining down on us again. We eventually arrived in the small village of Riomaggiore after a driving down a narrow road which led down to the sea. The philosophy of the National Park is to deter cars and this they certainly did by having extortionate parking fees. We set off in search of a room for the night. This proved interesting... the best offer we got was a room for 50 euros next to the station..whilst we could have paid 110 euros for a small apartment on the Sat night...then you also had to leave your car miles away and pay for parking. We asked about alternatives at the tourist info. only to be told that there really weren't any ...no campsites and the next place after the 5 villages ( los cinque terres) called Levanto was very touristy. Nevertheless in our inimitable fashion we decided to plough on. The drive was amazing. Fantastic views of the coast with bendy roads. Needless to say Brent drove: I've realised that it's just too stressful for him when I drive! Round about 6pm we came to a diversion. We couldn't believe it! We were directed back down to the coast which would have added about an hour to our journey. We hung about a bit. A bunch of cyclists arrived and were clearly equally stunned. Then 3 cars went through the barriers, so we decided to follow their example and risk it. This proved to be the right decision as the road works had finished for the day,which meant we could crawl past the unsurfaced part of the road and head on our way. When we reached Levanto we found a campsite immediately and set up the tent before having a wander. We found a great little bar and good take away pizza,which kept us very happy! We also saw other campsites advertised...so much for tourist information. We also saw how close we were to the station, where we could buy day tickets to enable us to do our walk...great!