Bella Italia and so on...

It's April 1, 2024. When the ferry's huge belly opens in the port of Porto Torres, Sardinia, we first think it's an April Fool's joke, but no, it's really raining. Fortunately, we are welcomed by our good friend Mr. H., which makes us forget the gloomy weather. We will explore the island together. We spend the first night not far from the port on a sandy beach and experience our first highlight the next morning. Modern as the Saden are, the farmer comes in his delivery van with his own meat and cheese specialties directly to our stand. Donkey cheese? Si, Eseli! We taste and buy, because it's really good quality. Highlight number 2: we can pay by card somewhere in the middle of nowhere at the farmer's! Then our road trip through Sardinia begins. We drive north through Stintino to Capo Falcone, the first of countless picturesque sandy beaches, and west to Capo Caccia. Already now we realize that Sardinia has many beautiful treasures for us that we cannot visit all in the short time. So we decide to come back again and stay longer, someday, when the universe allows it. We drive across the island to the east near Baunei, more precisely to Altopiano di Golgo, where we make ourselves comfortable on a rustic campsite surrounded by donkeys, wild boars, cows, and various other happily and freely roaming animals in hammocks. The next day we set off for a hike at sunrise, well, almost, coffee and so on. Our destination is Cala Goloritzé, a small but fine beach that is only accessible on foot, with white sand, turquoise water, rocks, beautiful, picturesque, breathtaking. The 14km sweaty hike there and back is definitely worth it, especially the view from the top makes us forget the effort. But our time is short, so we head south after 2 nights. We stroll along the Punta Molentis beach and sleep peacefully once again at Capo Carbonara before our ferry takes us to the next island. Thank you, Mr. H., for the wonderful days with you and thank you, Sardinia, you have enchanted us, we have fallen in love!

After a night on the ship, we experience Palermo, Sicily, while sleeping. We arrive at 5 o'clock in the morning, no rain and full of joy for this island. The first impression is good. We drive north to Scopello, a small tourist town with a wonderful bay and flower meadows. But we don't stay here, the prices for 0815 parking lots scare us off, and we drive a little further to the vicinity of the nature reserve around Monte Cofano. Ah, it's nice to be here, sea, peace, nature. And the next morning? Knock, knock. A member of the Carabinieri, typically Sicilian with a cigar in his mouth, explains to us that we cannot sleep here, please drive 200 meters further. Of course, we respect that, it's 9 o'clock and we want to move on anyway, but hey, it's been almost 1 year since our FIRST contact with the police. The journey continues to the south and now we understand what those mean who say that Sicily is the opposite of Sardinia. With every kilometer, the mountains of garbage increase. We drive through whole garbage piles, watch people simply leave their garbage bags by the roadside, and come to areas where we think twice about walking Lilli, afraid of catching something. Sicily has a trash problem and you can smell it. Well, at least we find a nice spot by the sea to sleep, it would be nice if we could ignore the trash on the beach. We continue driving through the inland and along the south coast. Every time we think it's getting better here, the next garbage dump appears. The only consolation is that the street dogs find food here. By the way, we don't forget the educational mission on such a trip. We visit the Valley of the Temples near Agrigento and admire ancient Greek temples that have held up pretty well. Then we arrive in Lido di Noto and receive very dear visitors! Christine's favorite coworkers honor us. We rent a charming detached house between orange and lemon trees and a clean, deserted beach access. The neighbor welcomes us with kilos of oranges, mandarins, and lemons. Wonderful days! We visit Noto (the correct pronunciation was taught to us by an Italian ranger on the way here and includes a loudly emphasized first O and a slightly arrogant undertone). The old city with what feels like 1000 churches is really nice for strolling and eating ice cream. Christian's highlight is the small city tour in the mini train. At this point, thank you, girls, for fulfilling a childhood dream. But like everything else, these days eventually come to an end, and the experiences and (according to Christine) the best pizza in the world will remain in good memory for all involved. Thank you again, girls, should we almost repeat?!

Some fly back home, we drive to Mount Etna, which we find to be a very impressive volcano. The craters and the cold lava, it's unimaginable what forces are at work here. However, our conclusion for Sicily is not good, if it weren't for the few days with the girls and the pizza.

The next day, we cross over to the mainland with the aim of reaching Tropea. The small town is wonderful. We stroll through the narrow streets, buy salami from the farmer, and try fancy pizza. These small slices of dough have become a kind of staple food for us since Sicily. But the next day, English weather catches up with us in southern Italy. It rains and rains, so we decide to drive far to a place where Christian really wants to go and where it doesn't matter that it's raining. We drive to Pompeii. On the way, we briefly stop in Diamante, which is worth a detour with its many little graffiti and pictures on the walls. The weather gets better after Salerno and we explore the Amalfi Coast, cool, beautiful, but closed for campers, cool, okay, then not. So we continue towards Pompeii, into the Neapolitan traffic. You hear a lot about it, you imagine it, but you don't really understand it until you're here. In general, you can say that just about everything that is meant to regulate traffic, signs, traffic lights, lines, areas, etc., is present solely for decorative purposes. The horn is your friend! Interestingly, Christian had 0, in words ZERO, problems with it. It takes us 1.5 hours for 10 km, but we have time. But now to Pompeii: breathtaking, world-class! This archaeological site is definitely one of our highlights! Even Christine, who is not so enthusiastic about such things, explores the city for 4 hours, only comes back because she's hungry, and is fascinated! Come and visit, preferably before the next eruption of Vesuvius. Speaking of Vesuvius, we decided to skip it after all, volcano is volcano, Italy, as good as your food is, your handling of trash and the condition of your streets are incomprehensible. We want to go north.

But first to the east, past the street prostitution around Foggia, to the Gargano National Park. Gargano, a really beautiful area! Wonderful sea, great beaches, nature, pizza! But we have to head north steadily along the Adriatic coast towards San Marino. The little dwarf state has long been on Christian's list. If you need weapons, come to San Marino. Besides the chic old town and the breathtaking view of the surroundings, San Marino has an unusually large number of gun shops. But we prefer to treat ourselves to an espresso for €1 and explore the old decommissioned tram tunnels that used to connect San Marino to Rimini. One day in the microstate is enough, so we aim for our next destination, the next country, younger than San Marino, we're going to Slovenia.

When you drive from Italy to Slovenia, you immediately notice the good roads and the clean environment. Our first stop is at Lake Bohinj in Triglav National Park. Mountains, lakes, forests, yes, we have somehow missed the familiar flora and fauna. And if you can spend 3 days by the lake and relax in a hammock after a hike, you enjoy life 100%. But we also brought something from Italy, yes, the weather. After 3 days, it starts to rain again, which foils our plan to drive to the Soca. But Slovenia has much more to offer. We already know the capital, but not the east. We explore the area around Celje and make our way to Ormoz near the Croatian border. Hilly landscape, wine, and lots of hops accompany us. We celebrate this country because it is extremely diverse and beautiful for its size. On the next rainy day, we treat ourselves to a day of relaxation and simply visit one of the many thermal baths, allegedly saunas are supposed to be healthy.

It's now early May, and we are a bit undecided. South, sea, east, home, Soca? There is still so much to explore. We choose the east. Hungary is unknown territory for us, which makes it very exciting. We start in the Orseg National Park and leisurely drive along Lake Balaton towards Budapest. And what can we say, Budapest surprised us. Reflecting on our time off, we have already visited 18 cities, and Budapest is definitely among the top 3! Green, cool, open, friendly, interesting, beautiful are just a few adjectives that come to mind when thinking of the capital of Hungary. The good bourgeois cuisine must not be forgotten! Just like in Sardinia, we are sure about Budapest: we will come back, there is too much more to discover.

The great thing about camper life is that it doesn't matter where you go. So it doesn't matter that we drive the same way back from Budapest, but this time to the Soca. 3 days of wellness in nature, hiking, hammocks, feet in the icy blue water, letting your soul dangle on what is probably the most beautiful river in Europe. A worthy conclusion before we drive home via Villach to Liezen and back home.

It is mid-May, we are expected at home, the camper needs to be brought for inspection, and our planned year off is over. We have seen many wonderful things, have grown closer, know ourselves better, and see things differently than a few months ago. We have recalibrated our priority list and revised our values. Now we are looking forward to embracing our loved ones, being able to take care of our cats ourselves again, not having to plan our shower times anymore, and the salt poppy seed rolls from our bakery around the corner. We are really looking forward to all of this, but even more so that our travel budget is not yet exhausted despite all the pizzas and that we will be on the road again for a few more months. On to new adventures!!!