We are now well on our way back up through Italy and the last week has been a succession of essentially mini city breaks in Orvieto, Siena, Firenze and Pisa.

Orvieto is an unusual hilltop town which is distinguished by an underground town – some 1200 caves beneath the surface. We arrived mid afternoon and caught the short funicular railway up to the town.

Orvieto

After strolling around for a while and visiting the underground we decided it was time for a drink and went to the first place we found. It looked a bit up market and we were expecting a significant bill especially when tapas seemed to come in a never ending stream! However when we got the bill it only came to 6 euros and we had eaten so much tapas that we didn’t need anything else to eat that evening. There was no campsite in Orvieto however there was a good sosta although it was between two railway lines one of which was the main highs speed line to Rome, so ideal if you were a train spotter, less great for a peaceful night’s sleep.

Siena

We liked Siena and had a good afternoon wandering around, however saw more that we’d planned when although we caught the right number bus we caught it in the wrong direction  and it took us a while to realise that we were heading away from the campsite not towards it.

Florence was next and we stayed there for 2 nights at a campsite about 500 metres from the town and right next to the Piazza Michelangelo.

Florence

It was very busy and although we thought Florence was very pretty we found that we’d probably had our fill of big cities for now and were quite keen to leave for somewhere more peaceful.

Onwards to Pisa, and again a really well-placed campsite within easy walking distance of the infamous tower. The campsite was lovely and peaceful, and we spent an afternoon wandering around Pisa.

Pisa

The area where the tower is situated was of course filled with coach parties, all having their photos taken in a pose where it looks as though you are holding the tower up, but as soon as you walked a few metres they all disappeared and it was a normal Italian town, complete with an extensive antiques and crafts market. There is also a historic centre with alleyways and squares and through all this runs a wide river.

Pisa

On the side of a church is some graffiti done by the American artist Haring in 1989 and now preserved. Although we hadn’t recognised his name we did recognise his work when we saw it.

Haring’s  graffiti

Next stop is the Cinque Terre area on the north west coast where we are going to spend a few days walking and chilling out before our trip back home – can’t believe we have been away for 7 weeks and only 1 more left……. Luckily the good weather continues  and it remains at about 24 degrees on average, so still in shorts and t-shirts.