Delayed from 29th August…….In order to celebrate three months on the road we stayed in a little hotel in a town called Montopoli deep in the Tuscan hills between Florence and Pisa. We were greeted at the door by a lovely old Italian lady in what looked like her nightdress with her stockings crumpled up round her ankles! We had a great time trying to understand each other but having succeeded we were shown our little room which was very sweet with the bath about 70cms long and a great view of the elderly folks gathered in the town square nattering. The hotel was full of old antique items like pin ball machines, cameras, movie posters etc it was a treasure trove with cavernous alleys and little terraces everywhere. The view around the back was incredible and we discovered that they had a terrace restaurant which apparently I had already booked us in for with the lady on arrival (?!?). We sat down to a complimentary glass of prosecco and watched the sun go down on the Tuscan hills. We were also handed a bottle of insect repellant which we thought was very kind but perhaps over the top until moments later we were swatting and scratching and hastily reached for the spray.

Dinner was traditional Italian with a modern twist – we had a started anti pasti which was loads of little morsels like courgette souflee and a variety of meats. This was followed by pasta middle course and then Dave had some stuffed calamari all nicely rounded off with vino santo and biscotti……stuffed!!!!! It was a slightly extravagant meal but we felt well deserved as three months in and we are still talking to each other!

The following morning after a healthier breakfast we waved goodbye to the family who have run the hotel for the last 70years and made the short journey to Pisa.

We were pleasantly surprised by the campsite in Pisa – clean facilities and a gleaming pool were a welcome site in the heat. We took advantage and spent an afternoon by the pool reading up on Pisa and planning the following day.

Pisa’s historic walls and the main attraction of the ‘Garden of miracles’ (houses the leaning tower) we’re only a 10 minute walk away which gave our campsite even more brownie points. We walked there in the morning and pushed past the hords of tourists and ‘tat-sellers’ into the city. What a spectacular place. There is something incredibly simple about all of the buildings (the tower, the baptistery, the cemetery and basilica) yet they each are impossible to tear your eyes away from. We spent the morning methodically walking through each section. Dave took the tour to the top of the tower and waved to me down below (me neither favouring the 500steps or the price tag for entry) I was blown away by the cemetery quite aptly described as one of the most beautiful in the world with the floor tombs and stunning statues and wall murals – possibly preferring this to the tower.

As the temperature climbed to 36Deg we headed for some lunch where we swiftly became the most popular customers. I think with endless tourist ordering margarita pizzas and pasta with tomato sauce they were incredibly excited when we ordered a plate of their Tuscan speciality anti-pasti. This was a mixture of local cheeses, olives and cooked and uncooked meats – very simple but delicious. We were congratulated by no less than 4 different members of staff and eagerly asked for our opinions once we had finished! We walked away satisfied both in appetite and for being such good tourists!

After more town wandering – its true that Pisa is so much more that the tower – we nipped back to the campsite to cool off in the pool. On the way back we found a little kitten hidden the the engine of an abandoned car who wouldn’t come out to be saved. I spent the next 4 hours worrying and so headed back armed with some milk….thankfully I was not the only one. I met this young Italian guy at the car who, while he looked normal, owned 25 cats and was planning on rescuing this little retch to make it 26! Pleased that we were not going to have to stow a cat for the remainder of the trip I left the cat man to it – the following day neither he nor the kitten where there so we assume it’s a happy ending for all.

My dad was arriving for a Tuscan getaway on the 31st and so we had one more day to kill before we collected him from Pisa airport…….

We had an extra day to kill before my dad arrived a Pisa airport for a little Tuscan getaway and so took the local train up north to Lucca…..