Finally to the sea!

Now it's finally time to go to the beautiful Mediterranean Sea. I can already imagine myself collecting seashells, feeling the sun on my skin, the wind in my hair, and taking endless walks on the beach.

But first, we want to explore the colorful villages on the rocky coast, Cinque Terre. Let's skip that quickly, it's Sunday and even Italian families appreciate the sights of their country for weekend trips. No chance of finding a parking spot in the picturesque villages and a decent storm is approaching from the west.

Speaking of storms: they will be our constant companions for the remaining two weeks and slowly wear down our camper happiness.

So we drive along the Ligurian coast a few kilometers south. The hope for a nice spot by the sea quickly disappears. 40km of sandy beach are completely built up with establishments where sun-seekers and swimmers can rent a parking space, changing room, sun lounger with umbrella, and probably even a cocktail. I read that in Forte dei Marmi, beach spots can cost several hundred euros per day.

We counted two small, freely accessible beach sections on the way - really astonishing, unbelievable, and enough to make us run away. I have to reluctantly give up on the seashell collection project and a day at the beach. We don't want to stay here and can only dream of a sleeping spot with gentle waves.

The escape brings us to Pisa in the late afternoon. The leaning tower is already beckoning us from afar. We both can't resist and want to get up close to the celebrity.

Surprisingly, finding a parking space in the town is not a problem at the moment, and it's even affordable! But as soon as we set foot on the pavement, it starts raining heavily. So not only did the storm follow us, it also caught up with us.

Unfortunately, we can only take a snapshot from a distance without being able to make the Tower of Pisa lean further.