Wednesday 16th May - Having arrived on the east coast of Italy we have spent a nice 24hrs on a large family campsite beside the Adriatic Sea which is just gearing up for the high season but thankfully not with the vast crowds that it can cope with. Like other campsites we have found this one seems to now be concentrating on more permenant 'bungalows' as they call them instead of providing pitches for motorhomes, caravans and tents. It has it drawbacks as there won't be enough pitches to go round in the high season but the sites often have decent swimming pools, restaurants and supermarkets which means less hunting around outside and having to offload Piccolo if we need any 'top ups' when only staying for a couple of nights.
Our journey from the West coast was about 4 hours and we have sadly made many observations about Italy on our travels, some which became obvious a soon as we had crossed the border from France. Its is clear we are in a country that is simply running out of money as the infrastructure is literally crumbling in a lot of areas. The authorities are looking after the main attractions and inner cities but get outside and start travelling around and you soon witness the disrepair and general untidy state the place is in. What doesn't help is that every trash can both domestic and large commercial is left at the roadside for all to see wherever you go. Any wall surface, bridge and even parked trains are quickly covered in graffiti spoiling the overall experience. The worst thing recently for us has been the state of the roads which seems to get worse the deeper you go into Italy. We think we have bad potholes in the UK but these roads are far worse to the point of being very dangerous for us towing a trailer with a car on. Potholes have become large craters in the roads and some roads have the edges falling away and heavy subsidence. We aren't talking just about major trunk roads, even the large european arterial toll roads. You are carefully picking your way around these road defects on a busy single carriageway major road when suddenly a large articulated lorry is overtaking you not worried as its not his vehicle and causing you to brake hard and swerve all over the place. Poor Piccolo on his trailer is a quivering wreck!. When you arrive at your destination and breath a sigh of relief you then have to re-arrange all your cupboards where everything has been thrown around and re-tighten the odd screw and bolt!
We are trying not to sound too negative about Italy which is a lovely place and maybe this is not a part you will see having arrived at a destination on a plane and go straight to a hotel or tourist attraction, but for us 'on the road' all the time it has come to a point where we are considering moving into Austria a little sooner and safer travelling. Probably like Greece, Spain & Portugal, Italy is really suffering at the moment and needs all the help it can get.
Tomorrow we have decided to head for Lake Garda and a visit to Verona which is the birthplace of Lorraine's Great Grandma so will have to research a bit of family tree here if we can!. Lorraine is one eighth Italian so now I know why we have such great pasta dishes!..
Caio.
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