What an incredible week!  Our first stop was Torino, where Fabio, in expert style, hosted us at his parent’s house.  Antoni, Rach & Gabrielle also made the effort to join us from the UK.  It was a brilliant weekend.  As only Mama Cosenza can, we were treated to the best food in all of Italy.  We ate, drank wine, caught up on news, and somehow even managed to squeeze in a visit to a museum too!

We then headed south, to spend a few days on Italy’s, rich & famous, Amalfi Coast.  The scenery was amazing – sheer cliffs plunging into the sea, dotted with quaint little villages clinging to the mountain sides.  We camped right on the beach, rested and relaxed, and to top things off, spent a day cruising by boat to Amalfi and the very beautiful Positano.  Can this 10,000km holiday get any better?

Yes, it does!  Another night train and we arrive in La Spezia, our base for the Cinque Terra coastal village walk.  We splash out and stay in a proper hotel – if this is to be a holiday, then we need a proper bed!  The village walk was magical – right along the cliffs, from village to village, we enjoyed perfect weather and marveled at the human effort to build such a magical place.  10 out of 10.

Full of pizza, pasta and gelati, we left Italy and headed back to France.  But it didn’t end there.  Tom had arrived back, and together with Celine, we had the opportunity to enjoy their French Alps home that we had heard so much about in South America.  Tom even took us to his favourite place on earth – Mont Blanc, Europe’s highest peak.  Lucky for us though, we convinced him to take the cable car and leave the crampons and ice picks at home!

An incredible week, and for those that made it so, a very big Thankyou, Grazie and Merci…

Jules & Jess

A great weekend in Torino

Stunning Barolo countryside (near Torino)

Arrghh! A real mummy. Egyptian Museum Torino.

The rich & famous, Amalfi

Jess, expertly blending in

The very beautiful, Positano

Jules, not blending in at all with that hat!

The magical Cinque Terra coastal walk

You walk from one village...

...to the next!

Tom showing us Mont Blanc

Just us and the mon-tains!

Lucky we came by cable car! That is Chamonix down there!

The hard way up...

...and the even harder way!