Northwards to Milan, including San Marino

After leaving the Amalfie we needed to move quite quickly to Milan, so we used highways (which is not usual for us, we prefer the byways and minor roads). But we couldn't resist going off the highways from time to time....

This is the area known as "Italy's little Tibet" and us an unexpectedly flat area in the mountains in central Italy. 

These white sheep dogs (possibly Marimos?) which roam with flocks of sheep, and are very common on the roads, often chasing cars. It was unusual to see so many together, obviously neglecting their sheep to chase cars. This area has wolves so the dogs have a very important role. 

3June 2016

And then there is San Marino. This is an independent country completely surrounded by Italy. It is perched on the top of a mountain with great views and is quite a tourist attraction. We camped in San Mrino's only camp ground and took a bus up to the top of the mountain to the old city. This the castle right at the top. 

Archery is a traditional sport here -for protection from invading Italians in the past?

The campground is only 2km from the top of San Marino. A taxi flag fall is €15, and the fare to the campground is €25! We felt that was a tourist rip-off and got out of taxi! The instructions for getting the bus back to the campground, given by the campground were most inadequate resulting in missed busses. We know one couple who walked back rather than take the rip-off taxi. We managed to find the correct bus at the last minute and got back OK. So make sure you gave good instructions about the return bus before you leave the campground! 

Nevertheless we did enjoy this quaint little country. 

12June 2016

We managed to have our vehicle safety checked in Milan. We have left Matilda with our friends at Axel Camper in Milano. Manuel us going to fix a list of little things which go wrong with any camper -like leaking taps.... We are confident she will be well cared for until we return early next year. 

So that is the last blog for now.

 Subscribe to the blog and like the Facebook page (Waltzing Matilda -our Earthcruiser Journey around the World) to be notified when we start up again in the new year. The current plan is to visit Spain, Portugal, Morrocco and the UK next year, and to move Matilde to the U.S. at the end of that time. But that is only a plan..... And you know what happens to those! 😅