Italy

Our next stop was Lake Maggiorie in Italy, which is about 60 miles from Milan. Our campsite was directly on the lake, which was fantastic considering it was about 85 degrees. We pretty much did not leave (it was too hot to get in the non- air conditioned car anyway). We spent our days swimming, reading, playing ball and playing cards. Linnea and Aaron befriended an 18 month old sweet little Italian girl, with whom they were both quite enamored. They had a “kids club” there, which involved camp- counselor type teenagers playing all sorts of games with them. Aaron and Linnea absolutely loved it.

We then camped in Deiva, Italy, which is a quick train ride away from the Cinque Terre. Our campsite was shady and green, and on site was an excellent restaurant with divine pizzas. We really splurged and ate there two of our three nights at the site. We spent one day visiting Sesti Levante and Porto Fino and the next in the Cinque Terre. The Cinque Terre includes five villages cut off by mountains covered with olive groves and are only accessible via the sea or train. We took the train to Riomaggiorie and from there walked or trained to the villages of Manarola, Corniglia, and Vernazza.

I think that Manorola was possibly the most beautiful, with its colorful, weathered buildings perched upon the cliffs jutting out into the sea. Vernazza was also quite captivating with its picture perfect harbor of vividly colored boats. As we were of course with two (almost) five year olds, we spent our time doing a little walking and exploring and a lot of swimming and snacking on gelato and pizza.