Granted, this is by far not our hottest summer. The temperatures we had in Extremaduran in Spain or even in Romania or the Balkans were usually much higher than what we are experiencing now. Nevertheless, we have never had a phase in which hiking was as strenuous and sweaty as here! So what made the climate in Italy so much harder for a hiker than in the other countries?

Beautiful moments on the beach

Hot and humid

The answer was simple: the humidity here are many times higher than what we were used to in Europe. This was not only noticeable while hiking but also by nearly all other factors that somehow had to do with the humidity. For example, a glass or a bottle of cold water got steamed up from outside within seconds. And by this, I do not only mean a slight haze but also such thick water drops as they are always artificially generated in the advertisement in order to show that something is specially fresh and cool. Yesterday we were given a bottle of chilled peach juice as a gift and before we even reached our seat it had attracted so much moisture that it had completely soaked through the plastic bag it was in. Only a minute longer and the hole in it would have been so big that the bottle would have simply fallen to the ground.

The breakwaters provide calm water on the beach

Nothing dries anymore

But that is not all. I don't need to mention that you'll be completely sweaty in seconds if you move even a millimeter. Even a cold shower doesn't change this, as the process of drying off alone is already so sweaty that one can start again at the head once one has made it up to the feet. Of course, this also leads to the fact that the clothes here are always wet.

And with that I really mean always. The humidity in the rooms is so high that nothing dries anymore, although we usually have more than 28 °C in them. The only way to dry things is to hang them directly in the sun. But even if you do this and bring the laundry back into the room in the evening bone dry, it will be damp again in the morning, as the fabric automatically filters out the moisture in the air and absorbs it. Luckily, Italy is so relaxed concerning the appearance. Otherwise, one would not get through a day here.

Individually used beach

Endless beaches

But of course the Italian climate also has its positive sides. In the last weeks alone we have been swimming in the sea about ten times. Actually, it was not really our style to be caught up in mass tourism among all the sunshades. But anyway, meanwhile we had seen more holiday beaches within one month than most people have seen in their whole life. Slowly we understood why the web nomads all emigrated to southern countries. There was something to be said for being able to do your work from a shady terrace with a view of the sea.

Invitation to the hotel "La Siesta"

Today, for example, we had been invited to their hotel by a very dear, elderly couple. It was located a little above the beach and the main road on a steep slope and had the fitting name "La Siesta". We did not meet foreign tourists here. It was rather an insider tip for the locals, who didn't want to get lost in the mass hype of beach tourism. Because despite the proximity to the main road, it was surprisingly quiet here due to the elevated location and although it only took 5 minutes to walk to the beach, from up here, one could not even suspect that one was in a tourist area.