After resting for a while yesterday afternoon, and viewing the Giro d'Italia stage on the box, we set out to have a look around and then find somewhere to eat. The alleyways were clogged full of people, a lot of them heading away from the centers of interest, perhaps having been to one or other of the musical concerts that are on at the moment. We eventually reached the Rialto bridge over the Grand Canal and it was absolutely chock full of sightseers. Crossing to the other side we proceeded through the city but planned to leave going to the Piazzo San Marco for tomorrow's adventure.
We wandered on and gradually lost most of the crowds finding ourselves in what appeared to be a blind alley so we thought that we would have to turn back and find a different way. Just then a middle-aged guy was walking towards us and called out that we could get through that way and he was, in fact doing just that. So we walked along with him and started chatting, discussing our interests in Venice and that we were also looking for a place for dinner.
As we walked, we were shown buildings of interest which are not on the general tourist trail, such as the Chiesa dei Miracoli (Church of miracles). He then showed us the public hospital which is a very impressive building which one would not think of as a hospital. We went inside and walked around through the ground floor rooms and also the cloisters which were built when the building (or part of it) was a Monastery. The hospital is still attached to a church and one of the cloisters belongs to the church, the other to the hospital. He also took us to the far end which had been constructed as a Lazarette during the plague years. Inside this is an imposing church frontage which has black marble columns. The central columns are in good condition but the end ones, which abut onto the brick walls, have suffered badly from the salts which have been drawn up through he bricks. Many walls of buildings show this sort of damage and it is very expensive to repair.
Earlier in our walk with Umberto, for such was his name, he had also shown us windows which had been filled in and turned into wall because the building had sunk some way. This also is quite common around Venice with many older buildings suffering the same fate.
After visiting the hospital, on coming outside we were surprised to find that it was starting to rain, if only quite lightly for the present. We continued on more quickly as Umberto was anxious to get home before getting too wet, and he gave us directions to find his restaurant recommendation. Unfortunately, when we got there we were told that they were booked out so had to find somewhere else. We didn't have to go far to find one that was of a good standard, even if the menu was in four languages (a sure sign that they are catering for the tourist trade).
As we had chatted to Umberto he divulged that he had been to Aus at least twice. He also said he had worked for Alitalia and from the extent of his travels etc we deduced that he had probably been a flight attendant who was now retired. If it hadn't been for the Trochetti strike, we would not have met Umberto or had such an interesting conversation. He gave us at least a half hour of his time and also told us of another church worth visiting (Santa Maria del Frari) which has some interesting carvIngs.
After dinner we had quite a way to walk to get back to our hotel in Santa Croce district and it was raining quite steadily. Undaunted we set off but along the way we encountered an itinerant umbrella seller and I bought one for €5 (to match the one back in the hotel room ;-).
By the time we got back we were quite wet regardless (it was about a half hour walk) so had to strip off and hang clothes in the bathroom to, hopefully, dry out.
This morning after breakfast we set out in fine weather, in much less crowded ways, heading for the Rialto bridge again and Piazza San Marco. Along the way we passed by the church of Santa Maria del Frari. The door being open, I went in and had a good look around. They had signs up prohibiting photo taking but I was able to see all of the statuary and the elaborately carved choir stalls. As I came out they were just setting up the ticket office so it seems I just walked in at the right time.
When we arrived at Piazza San Marco there were already lots of people there but we were able to see the architecture of all of the impressive buildings. After that we headed back through the city taking a different, and more meandering, path which brought us to the Piazza San Giovanni and Paolo where we stopped and had a coffee. We had to be back at he hotel to check out by noon so headed back without hurry. Along the way we passed Saturday Markets along near the Grand Canal and also passed the Fish Market (we needed no street signs to to let us know this). Almost opposite the Fish Market is the Ca' da Mosto which was at one time owned by the ancestors of Francesco da Mosto (who has done three BBC2 TV series). Apparently it now sits empty because the canal water has breached its basement.
After packing up at the hotel and checking out, we went over the bridge to Piazzale Roma to find us a taxi to take us to our next hotel in Mestre. This marks the official start of our cycle tour from Venice to Florence starting at The Hotel President in Mestre tomorrow morning. After checking in there we went out to find a Laundromat (Auto-Lavanderia) which the receptionist told us should be along a street behind the hotel. Sure enough we found it and after putting our clothes into a machine we headed along the street to find a snack bar for lunch. A nice lady toasted a panino for each of us which we had with a cold drink by which time the washing was almost done. Another half hour for drying and then back to the hotel.
Later we will head into Mestre Centro to find somewhere for dinner.
Saturday, 31 May 2014
Friday, 30 May 2014
Trento to Venice - the long way
Last evening we walked out a little after 7pm to look around Trento a bit and also find somewhere for dinner since we had a very light lunch. There were lots of cafes open and lots of people partaking of evening drinkies. The number of people around may have been due to the Festival of Economics running from 30th May to 2nd June and organised by the University. There is also a 60km cycle tourism event associated with it and in honor of Francesco Moser. Moser was a prominent Italian professional cyclist in the 1970s and 80s and won the 1984 Giro d'Italia.
After wandering around for a while we found a likely looking restaurant with a reasonable menu so went in and were seated very quickly. We were given menus and left to make our selections. Then we waited. And waited. And waited. And eventually we just walked out. They were busy but not excessively so, so there was no reason why they could not have taken our orders and then brought drinks and then let us wait for delivery. Anyway, not far away we came across another restaurant which turned out to be a good choice. Neither of us wanted a full first course so we decided to share a 'House Pâté' of deer and ham pâté, thinking that it would be just pâté with some bread to eat it with. There was a very nice pate of course, but also a carpaccio of prosciutto (three kinds), deer ham, and salami. Very nice. For main Garth had Gnocchi with smoked ricotta while I had a Risotto Porcine. And we shared a bottle of local Cabernet Riserva. A good meal after being ignored at the other place.
Before we left Trento this morning, we went to a local supermarket to see if we could find a suitable slightly abrasive cream to help buff out the scrape from the side of the car. We ended up with the Italian version of Jif (Cif) which could help. Leaving Trento we enlisted Karen to navigate us out and after ignoring some of her illegal instructions managed to get onto the highway towards Padova - the way we had gone yesterday to view the Giro at Levico Terme.
The scenery through the valley is very impressive with sheer cliffs on both sides of the valley and a swiftly flowing river too. Small towns are frequent and eventually we came to Bassano del Grappa a little over half way to Padova. We intended to branch off to Treviso but missed the turn as it happened quicker than we expected after Bassano. Not to worry - we would find another turn off (yeah, right!). A little further on we found a service area with a restaurant and a large car park so we stopped there and tried out some buffing of scrape marks. It was partially successful but one of them was not just chipped but significantly creased so we gave up and continued on our way. In a flash of brilliance? We thought that if we were to take a right turn and head back towards Bassano, we would find the road that would take us east towards Treviso. Mmmm! After driving for a little while back northwards we found ourselves in the middle of Bassano. Not only that, we had failed to realize that stage 19 of the Giro d'Italia was a hill climb time trial beginning in Bassano del Grappa! This meant that many streets in the town were blocked off and we had to go around in circles a bit to find our way out. Eventually we found what should have been a road taking us to Treviso. However, driving along we found ourselves heading towards Vicenza which is somewhat to the north-west of Padova and definitely not where we wanted to go. It seemed that every intersection gave us only choices to continue to Vicenza or head back to Bassano. Sometimes we came to intersections where both options were to Vicenza. Aargh! We eventually decided just to carry on to Vicenza from where we could go through Padova and then to Venice.
We had all but given up on Treviso when we came to a major road which had Vicenza in one direction and Treviso in the other so, at last, we were able to head to our preferred intermediate destination. Of course, along the way we had to resist the temptation to head back towards Bassano ;-). It felt a bit like Groundhog day, or maybe being trapped inside 'The Cube' of the movie of the same name.
Eventually we reached Treviso and, contrary to our usual practice around towns, actively looked for signs to 'Centro' to get to the city centre. There were a few but they ran out so, in desperation, we hung a sharp right to head in what we were sure was the correct direction for the centre. It turned out to be the right choice and, not only that, we found a free car park just outside the old town walls and found a free spot to park. A gate through the wall was nearby so we walked into the old town and found a place for a panino and a coffee for lunch. Along the way we crossed over one of the several canals that run through the old town. Just down from the bridge was a Swamp Hen keeping a large twiggy nest warm on the bank just above the fairly fast-flowing water.
After our fairly brief and light lunch we had a stroll around having a good look at some of the old architecture and then found our car park again. It seems that we were lucky to get a car park as we were stalked by a couple of girls in a car as we walked back to the car. I think they had their eye on Garth ;-)
Finding our way out of Treviso towards Venice was not difficult and we were soon heading towards the final destination of the day. As we got close to Venice, however, the roads became quite confusing and it took both of our wits to keep going in the right direction. It probably helped that Garth had been here before and eventually we found ourselves driving across the Liberty Bridge which was packed with cars. As we came towards the Piazza de Roma which is just past where the rental car offices are, we could not find a car park and ended up circling the parking in the Piazza. Garth hopped out and went back to the Hertz office to ask them where to bring the car. Since there were parking nazis around I kept the car moving until Garth came back and then we followed the directions we had been given for where to take the car. This involved driving back towards the Liberty Bridge and then throwing a U turn at the traffic lights to get back to the Hertz office.
After Garth had signed back the car we had to drag our luggage to the hotel which meant a few trips up and down bridges but fortunately was not too far. The room we have is quite nice and a reasonable size, and nice and cool after humping the luggage through the warm afternoon.
Oh, the guy at the Hertz office said it was much busier than normal because there was something on (turns out to be music concerts), but also there was a strike on at the same time. There were certainly a lot of cars and people around.
Later we will go for a look around, sans luggage, and find somewhere to eat dinner.
After wandering around for a while we found a likely looking restaurant with a reasonable menu so went in and were seated very quickly. We were given menus and left to make our selections. Then we waited. And waited. And waited. And eventually we just walked out. They were busy but not excessively so, so there was no reason why they could not have taken our orders and then brought drinks and then let us wait for delivery. Anyway, not far away we came across another restaurant which turned out to be a good choice. Neither of us wanted a full first course so we decided to share a 'House Pâté' of deer and ham pâté, thinking that it would be just pâté with some bread to eat it with. There was a very nice pate of course, but also a carpaccio of prosciutto (three kinds), deer ham, and salami. Very nice. For main Garth had Gnocchi with smoked ricotta while I had a Risotto Porcine. And we shared a bottle of local Cabernet Riserva. A good meal after being ignored at the other place.
Before we left Trento this morning, we went to a local supermarket to see if we could find a suitable slightly abrasive cream to help buff out the scrape from the side of the car. We ended up with the Italian version of Jif (Cif) which could help. Leaving Trento we enlisted Karen to navigate us out and after ignoring some of her illegal instructions managed to get onto the highway towards Padova - the way we had gone yesterday to view the Giro at Levico Terme.
The scenery through the valley is very impressive with sheer cliffs on both sides of the valley and a swiftly flowing river too. Small towns are frequent and eventually we came to Bassano del Grappa a little over half way to Padova. We intended to branch off to Treviso but missed the turn as it happened quicker than we expected after Bassano. Not to worry - we would find another turn off (yeah, right!). A little further on we found a service area with a restaurant and a large car park so we stopped there and tried out some buffing of scrape marks. It was partially successful but one of them was not just chipped but significantly creased so we gave up and continued on our way. In a flash of brilliance? We thought that if we were to take a right turn and head back towards Bassano, we would find the road that would take us east towards Treviso. Mmmm! After driving for a little while back northwards we found ourselves in the middle of Bassano. Not only that, we had failed to realize that stage 19 of the Giro d'Italia was a hill climb time trial beginning in Bassano del Grappa! This meant that many streets in the town were blocked off and we had to go around in circles a bit to find our way out. Eventually we found what should have been a road taking us to Treviso. However, driving along we found ourselves heading towards Vicenza which is somewhat to the north-west of Padova and definitely not where we wanted to go. It seemed that every intersection gave us only choices to continue to Vicenza or head back to Bassano. Sometimes we came to intersections where both options were to Vicenza. Aargh! We eventually decided just to carry on to Vicenza from where we could go through Padova and then to Venice.
We had all but given up on Treviso when we came to a major road which had Vicenza in one direction and Treviso in the other so, at last, we were able to head to our preferred intermediate destination. Of course, along the way we had to resist the temptation to head back towards Bassano ;-). It felt a bit like Groundhog day, or maybe being trapped inside 'The Cube' of the movie of the same name.
Eventually we reached Treviso and, contrary to our usual practice around towns, actively looked for signs to 'Centro' to get to the city centre. There were a few but they ran out so, in desperation, we hung a sharp right to head in what we were sure was the correct direction for the centre. It turned out to be the right choice and, not only that, we found a free car park just outside the old town walls and found a free spot to park. A gate through the wall was nearby so we walked into the old town and found a place for a panino and a coffee for lunch. Along the way we crossed over one of the several canals that run through the old town. Just down from the bridge was a Swamp Hen keeping a large twiggy nest warm on the bank just above the fairly fast-flowing water.
After our fairly brief and light lunch we had a stroll around having a good look at some of the old architecture and then found our car park again. It seems that we were lucky to get a car park as we were stalked by a couple of girls in a car as we walked back to the car. I think they had their eye on Garth ;-)
Finding our way out of Treviso towards Venice was not difficult and we were soon heading towards the final destination of the day. As we got close to Venice, however, the roads became quite confusing and it took both of our wits to keep going in the right direction. It probably helped that Garth had been here before and eventually we found ourselves driving across the Liberty Bridge which was packed with cars. As we came towards the Piazza de Roma which is just past where the rental car offices are, we could not find a car park and ended up circling the parking in the Piazza. Garth hopped out and went back to the Hertz office to ask them where to bring the car. Since there were parking nazis around I kept the car moving until Garth came back and then we followed the directions we had been given for where to take the car. This involved driving back towards the Liberty Bridge and then throwing a U turn at the traffic lights to get back to the Hertz office.
After Garth had signed back the car we had to drag our luggage to the hotel which meant a few trips up and down bridges but fortunately was not too far. The room we have is quite nice and a reasonable size, and nice and cool after humping the luggage through the warm afternoon.
Oh, the guy at the Hertz office said it was much busier than normal because there was something on (turns out to be music concerts), but also there was a strike on at the same time. There were certainly a lot of cars and people around.
Later we will go for a look around, sans luggage, and find somewhere to eat dinner.
Thursday, 29 May 2014
Rimini to Trento plus
Last night in Rimini we walked down the main drag to find a place to eat. This really is Surfer's Paradise Italian style - in the worst possible way. Most of the eateries think that the only Italian food that turisti will have heard of is Pasta or Pizza. Interestingly, most of the notices in the restaurants and tourist-trash shops are in four languages: Italian (of course), English, German, and Russian (using the Cyrillic alphabet).
Garth had spotted a likely looking restaurant on the way in (I was driving) so we walked down a few blocks and found it. It turned out to be a very good choice. I had a first course of Mussels and a bowl of about 40 turned up and very nicely cooked. Garth had a seafood dish of crumbed seafood and that was good too (we shared a bit). My main was a mixed fish dish while Garth had King Prawn skewers and calimari and both were delicious. Why so much fish? Because, being on the coast, we reckoned that Pesce di Mare (sea fish) should be good, and it was.
We walked back along the beach road sneering at the beach concessions but it was quite a pleasant evening to walk back to the hotel. The beach road has cycle ways in each direction as well as a footpath - sheer luxury after Florence and the narrow streeted towns and villages of Tuscany.
Today, since we had a lot of distance to cover if we were to catch a stage of the Giro d'Italia, we used the Autostradas all the way from Rimini, through/around Bologna and Modena, until we got close to Brescia where we planned to continue along the western side of Lago di Garda. We exited the Autostrada system at Peschiera to head westwards along the bottom of the lake before turning north towards Salo. Once at Salo we were able to turn onto the road leading to the head of the lake at Riva di Garda.
After Salo, the road alongside the lake clings to the hillside and is quite twisty. Much of the way in the early part is lined with Hotels but later on, the cliffs dropping to the lake become more sheer and the road goes through many tunnels. At Riva di Garda I needed a comfort stop so we found a likely looking place which turned up to be anything but having only a Coop and a couple of other businesses. As we were walking around trying to see if a 'loo could be found Garth spotted a bag on a seat under a tree. It turned out to contain an expensive looking Olympus camera so someone must have forgotten to pick it up after sitting there. Garth took it into the Coop while I continued to search for a toilet, eventually finding one by asking in a snack shop. After doing the necessary we had a toasted sandwich style thing made with a very thin bread. We had it done with cheese and prosciutto, washing it down with a caffe latte, and it was just enough for a light middayish meal.
From Riva di Garda we continued up the valley towards Trento before looping around Trento to take the road to Padova where we hoped to turn off at Levico Terme to catch stage 18 of the Giro. The early exits into Levico Trento were blocked off by the Carabinieri but there was an exit on the other side of the town which wasn't blocked off so we took that. After driving through and around blocked off streets we eventually found a (probably illegal) park for the car and walked back to where it was obvious that the race would be coming through. We walked up the steep cobbled hill in the centre of the town where it was obvious from the number of expectant people that the race would be coming and found a spot about 3/4 of the way up where we could wait. We got there at about 3:30pm and the Testa da Corsa group came through at about 4:10pm followed closely by a larger second group and then a third group. There were a few stragglers at the back. Obviously the mountains had taken a toll. Looking at some of the footage on TV later we could see where they had ridden through cool cloudy and wet weather and also with snow on the sides of the road. Anyway, it was good to have since the race live, having watched so much of it on the box.
Once the race was out of the way it was back to the car and back to Trento with Karen navigating us to our Hotel. As usual, we missed a few of her planned turns and had to take the alternate routes she had to plan but eventually got to the hotel just after 5pm.
The day was fine but very hazy as we drove north and dark clouds threatened from the north west. The mountain tops were clouded over but cleared as we continued and it wasn't long before we could see the craggy tops with their pockets of permanent snow. The mountain scenery in the north is really very spectacular and driving up alongside Lago di Garda made the most of it. As we got close to Riva di Garda there was a lot of activity on the water with wind surfers, para-surfers, and dinghies all busy out on the water. We did get a little shower of rain at one stage while driving but it eventually went away. All in all, a very good day
Garth had spotted a likely looking restaurant on the way in (I was driving) so we walked down a few blocks and found it. It turned out to be a very good choice. I had a first course of Mussels and a bowl of about 40 turned up and very nicely cooked. Garth had a seafood dish of crumbed seafood and that was good too (we shared a bit). My main was a mixed fish dish while Garth had King Prawn skewers and calimari and both were delicious. Why so much fish? Because, being on the coast, we reckoned that Pesce di Mare (sea fish) should be good, and it was.
We walked back along the beach road sneering at the beach concessions but it was quite a pleasant evening to walk back to the hotel. The beach road has cycle ways in each direction as well as a footpath - sheer luxury after Florence and the narrow streeted towns and villages of Tuscany.
Today, since we had a lot of distance to cover if we were to catch a stage of the Giro d'Italia, we used the Autostradas all the way from Rimini, through/around Bologna and Modena, until we got close to Brescia where we planned to continue along the western side of Lago di Garda. We exited the Autostrada system at Peschiera to head westwards along the bottom of the lake before turning north towards Salo. Once at Salo we were able to turn onto the road leading to the head of the lake at Riva di Garda.
After Salo, the road alongside the lake clings to the hillside and is quite twisty. Much of the way in the early part is lined with Hotels but later on, the cliffs dropping to the lake become more sheer and the road goes through many tunnels. At Riva di Garda I needed a comfort stop so we found a likely looking place which turned up to be anything but having only a Coop and a couple of other businesses. As we were walking around trying to see if a 'loo could be found Garth spotted a bag on a seat under a tree. It turned out to contain an expensive looking Olympus camera so someone must have forgotten to pick it up after sitting there. Garth took it into the Coop while I continued to search for a toilet, eventually finding one by asking in a snack shop. After doing the necessary we had a toasted sandwich style thing made with a very thin bread. We had it done with cheese and prosciutto, washing it down with a caffe latte, and it was just enough for a light middayish meal.
From Riva di Garda we continued up the valley towards Trento before looping around Trento to take the road to Padova where we hoped to turn off at Levico Terme to catch stage 18 of the Giro. The early exits into Levico Trento were blocked off by the Carabinieri but there was an exit on the other side of the town which wasn't blocked off so we took that. After driving through and around blocked off streets we eventually found a (probably illegal) park for the car and walked back to where it was obvious that the race would be coming through. We walked up the steep cobbled hill in the centre of the town where it was obvious from the number of expectant people that the race would be coming and found a spot about 3/4 of the way up where we could wait. We got there at about 3:30pm and the Testa da Corsa group came through at about 4:10pm followed closely by a larger second group and then a third group. There were a few stragglers at the back. Obviously the mountains had taken a toll. Looking at some of the footage on TV later we could see where they had ridden through cool cloudy and wet weather and also with snow on the sides of the road. Anyway, it was good to have since the race live, having watched so much of it on the box.
Once the race was out of the way it was back to the car and back to Trento with Karen navigating us to our Hotel. As usual, we missed a few of her planned turns and had to take the alternate routes she had to plan but eventually got to the hotel just after 5pm.
The day was fine but very hazy as we drove north and dark clouds threatened from the north west. The mountain tops were clouded over but cleared as we continued and it wasn't long before we could see the craggy tops with their pockets of permanent snow. The mountain scenery in the north is really very spectacular and driving up alongside Lago di Garda made the most of it. As we got close to Riva di Garda there was a lot of activity on the water with wind surfers, para-surfers, and dinghies all busy out on the water. We did get a little shower of rain at one stage while driving but it eventually went away. All in all, a very good day
Wednesday, 28 May 2014
Montieri to Rimini
At our last breakfast at the Rifugio, we chatted with the two German guys who are following the McLaren car outing. Apparently one of the cars had a prang yesterday, hitting a tree and then rolling. Very expensive.
We hit the road about 9:00am after checking out and we were heading for Rimini on the Adriatic Coast via way of Siena and Arezza. We didn't want to enter either of those cities but reckoned we could find a way to navigate around them, and we did. From Arezzo we drove to Sansepolcro, heading for Urbino and then Pesaro on the coast.
At Sansepolcro we took the opportunity of a comfort stop and a coffee at a shopping centre on the outskirts. After that, the road took us up some very twisty roads and up, up, up, and up for a long way, around numerous very tight hairpin bends. Then much the same down the other side for a while. However, the road surface was good and wide enough not to cause any anxiety. Somewhere along the way, I forget exactly where, we spotted a very distinctive bird fossicking on the side of the road. It was a Hoopoe. Wae sued to see these in the garden in Nairobi on their annual migration away from the cold of Europe, so this was the first time we had seen one since then.
The road down through Urbino and on to Pesaro was uneventful and we reached Pesaro around about 2pm or just after. Since we had not had lunch we parked the car and wandered into the town to find a Ristorante where we could get a light lunch. We had a shared pizza and a shared carpaccio which was quite enough to stave off the. Blood-sugar lows.
After lunch we decided to let Karen plot a route for us for Rimini, avoiding the Autostrada. She did the first bit Ok and then got orally confused but by then we knew we were on the correct route so gave her the rest of the day off. The drive to Rimini from Pesaro took us through some, surprise surprise, typical coastal crap development even though we were several kilometres away from the coast. Eventually we got to Rimini and turned eastwards. Looking for the sea that was alleged to be there. Again, Rimini is very much like many other summer holiday beach towns with hotels all along the sea front road. On the other side of the road are numerous concessions carving up the beach in a typically European way. Not my idea of how to spend time at the beach I'm afraid.
Driving along the beach road, we decided to find a likely looking hotel and see if we could get a room for the night. We got a twin room at The Ambassador (****), and they also have parking (for a fee) but reasonable enough for one night. Our room overlooks the beach road, and the beach c on cessions etc over the Adriatic Sea. Tick.
Tomorrow we will probably head north-west then north.
After the regions of the Maremma and Siena, much of the country we drove through was rolling countryside with lots of hay-making being done but we still have not seen a dairy herd anywhere. The hills that we passed through were well forested and there were road signs warning of deer on the road but we still haven't seen one. The day was mostly fine although off to our north a bit were some very dark rain clouds and we drove through the odd light shower after heavier rain had obviously passed through. There was a light sprinkle in Pesaro but not even enough to open the umbrella for.
We hit the road about 9:00am after checking out and we were heading for Rimini on the Adriatic Coast via way of Siena and Arezza. We didn't want to enter either of those cities but reckoned we could find a way to navigate around them, and we did. From Arezzo we drove to Sansepolcro, heading for Urbino and then Pesaro on the coast.
At Sansepolcro we took the opportunity of a comfort stop and a coffee at a shopping centre on the outskirts. After that, the road took us up some very twisty roads and up, up, up, and up for a long way, around numerous very tight hairpin bends. Then much the same down the other side for a while. However, the road surface was good and wide enough not to cause any anxiety. Somewhere along the way, I forget exactly where, we spotted a very distinctive bird fossicking on the side of the road. It was a Hoopoe. Wae sued to see these in the garden in Nairobi on their annual migration away from the cold of Europe, so this was the first time we had seen one since then.
The road down through Urbino and on to Pesaro was uneventful and we reached Pesaro around about 2pm or just after. Since we had not had lunch we parked the car and wandered into the town to find a Ristorante where we could get a light lunch. We had a shared pizza and a shared carpaccio which was quite enough to stave off the. Blood-sugar lows.
After lunch we decided to let Karen plot a route for us for Rimini, avoiding the Autostrada. She did the first bit Ok and then got orally confused but by then we knew we were on the correct route so gave her the rest of the day off. The drive to Rimini from Pesaro took us through some, surprise surprise, typical coastal crap development even though we were several kilometres away from the coast. Eventually we got to Rimini and turned eastwards. Looking for the sea that was alleged to be there. Again, Rimini is very much like many other summer holiday beach towns with hotels all along the sea front road. On the other side of the road are numerous concessions carving up the beach in a typically European way. Not my idea of how to spend time at the beach I'm afraid.
Driving along the beach road, we decided to find a likely looking hotel and see if we could get a room for the night. We got a twin room at The Ambassador (****), and they also have parking (for a fee) but reasonable enough for one night. Our room overlooks the beach road, and the beach c on cessions etc over the Adriatic Sea. Tick.
Tomorrow we will probably head north-west then north.
After the regions of the Maremma and Siena, much of the country we drove through was rolling countryside with lots of hay-making being done but we still have not seen a dairy herd anywhere. The hills that we passed through were well forested and there were road signs warning of deer on the road but we still haven't seen one. The day was mostly fine although off to our north a bit were some very dark rain clouds and we drove through the odd light shower after heavier rain had obviously passed through. There was a light sprinkle in Pesaro but not even enough to open the umbrella for.
Tuesday, 27 May 2014
Lucca and Pisa (and some other places)
Last night we had dinner again at the Rifugio. I had pasta for entree with a simple tomato and cheese sauce, whilst Garth had Riboletta. I had thought that Riboletta was a form of pasta like penne but cut differently. It turned out to be a soup made with bread, legumes and other vegetables. I should mention that we had to order dinner from the menu at breakfast time so that they could prepare the meals. After that we both had a potato omelet very much like a Spanish Tortilla. Quite tasty and very hearty. Garth followed that up with Apple tart for dessert.
During dinner a couple of German guys came in and we had a chat with them. They had come to see (watch?) McLaren cars at some very exclusive hotel (Borgo San Pietro). Apparently the first such event was two years ago at Lake Como. Anyway, nice guys to talk to and a good sense of humour. After dinner we also got talking to an Italian couple whom we had interacted with briefly the previous evening. They had offered us the remains of the bottle of Vino Rosso (obviously mistaking us for alcoholics) and did the same again. It turns out that they live in Florence and were a very nice couple to talk to in a mixture of broken Italian and broken English. We had quite a conversation between them, ourselves, and the German guys.
We had decided to head for Lucca and Pisa today so after breakfast we headed up on a fairly direct route north through country we had traversed on the way to the Rifugio. Navigation as we got closer to Lucca was fairly easy with plenty of signs along the way, although the roads we came in on were fairly narrow and twisty - surprise!
Arriving in Lucca from the south we drove through some of the newer parts before reaching the outside of the old city. Driving around the outside of the old city clockwise we looked for parking and then decided to try our luck inside the old city. We entered via the Porta Elisa and after following the wall along to the left saw some parking dead ahead so made for that. We didn't notice until after parking that we had gone the wrong way down a one way street but we had not inconvenienced anyone and there was no traffic coming the correct way so it panned out Ok.
After parking we set off on foot towards the most interesting parts of the old city to have a good look around. After strolling around and viewing the sights and the old architecture, which is quite similar to Florence, we had a walk along the wall top for a while. As we drove north we had driven through some rain squalls but it was otherwise fine. We had no rain during our walk around Lucca at all. After our wall walk we walked a bit more through the northern, less affluent, end of the old city before finding a restaurant for lunch. We had not pre-ordered diner for tonight as we did not know if we would be back in time. Consequently we had a more substantial lunch. For first course I had Tortelli, meat filled and with a tomatoey and meat sauce and Garth had Pasta with a Gorgonzola sauce. Main course for me was Scallopine alla Limone (escalopes of pork with an olive oil and lemon sauce), and Garth had Coteletta fried and served with chips. His Coteletta was basically a crumbed and fried chicken schnitzel. The meal was good and certainly enough to keep us going for the rest of the afternoon. On the way back to the car I stopped at a Pasticcheria and had a Panino con Prosciutto made up to take back for the evening.
We had not fully committed to 'doing' Pisa but decided to do it anyway before heading back south. We had want to avoid the Autostrada but unfortunately found ourselves driving on it towards Pisa. On leaving it I tendered a €50 note for the tariff which turned out to be €1.70 but the guy did not bat an eyelid. We arrived at the vicinity of the Duomo and the Torre Pendente without incident and found cheap parking nearby - about a 5 minute walk from 'The Tower'.
There were the usual crowds to be expected around the tower and it is certainly an impressive sight, as is the Duomo. As we had arrived from the opposite side of the tower to the one seen in most picture, it was interesting to see the lean from the reverse direction. From where we first viewed it the lean seemed much more pronounced. Strolling around and looking back at the Duomo, it was apparent that part of it had also suffered some sinkage, probably before it was completed. This was something which I had not heard of before so was interesting to see. After imbibing a gelato each we headed back to the car to start our journey back south to the Rifugio.
We had decided to follow a similar route south to the one we used coming north but on the way to join up with that we got shunted on to a fast road which we didn't want. We got off at what we thought was a suitable exit as it was signed to one of the places that would be on our chosen route. Maybe we took a wrong turn or something but we ended up navigating a lot of very narrow streets and semi-rural roads before finally reaching the outskirts of a place that we could find on the map. At this stage we decided to invoke the aid of Karen, the GPS b***h to help us onwards for a while.
We told the GPS to plot a route for us to Castelfiorentino and, from where we were, it was fairly straightforward to get there. Following the GPS we were getting close to Castelfiorentino when we just missed a turn off to the left. At this stage we decided to cancel that plot and ask it to head for Certaldo which was on the route we would take from Castelfiorentino anyway. This involved us continuing on the same road, with no deviations or turns to make, and we found ourselves passing through Castelfiorentino anyway on the way to Certaldo. We still have no idea where 'she' was taking us.
After Certaldo it was a fast run on a good highway to Poggibonsi. The road passed through three fairly major tunnels on the way and tree was not much other traffic at all. After Poggibonsi we headed for Colle de Val d'Elsa before turning to the south west on the road which goes to Grosseto and Folonica. This road goes directly via Montieri and so gave us a good run back to the Rifugio.
All in all it was a good day and we got to see some bits of countryside which we had not intended to but all came out well in the end.
During dinner a couple of German guys came in and we had a chat with them. They had come to see (watch?) McLaren cars at some very exclusive hotel (Borgo San Pietro). Apparently the first such event was two years ago at Lake Como. Anyway, nice guys to talk to and a good sense of humour. After dinner we also got talking to an Italian couple whom we had interacted with briefly the previous evening. They had offered us the remains of the bottle of Vino Rosso (obviously mistaking us for alcoholics) and did the same again. It turns out that they live in Florence and were a very nice couple to talk to in a mixture of broken Italian and broken English. We had quite a conversation between them, ourselves, and the German guys.
We had decided to head for Lucca and Pisa today so after breakfast we headed up on a fairly direct route north through country we had traversed on the way to the Rifugio. Navigation as we got closer to Lucca was fairly easy with plenty of signs along the way, although the roads we came in on were fairly narrow and twisty - surprise!
Arriving in Lucca from the south we drove through some of the newer parts before reaching the outside of the old city. Driving around the outside of the old city clockwise we looked for parking and then decided to try our luck inside the old city. We entered via the Porta Elisa and after following the wall along to the left saw some parking dead ahead so made for that. We didn't notice until after parking that we had gone the wrong way down a one way street but we had not inconvenienced anyone and there was no traffic coming the correct way so it panned out Ok.
After parking we set off on foot towards the most interesting parts of the old city to have a good look around. After strolling around and viewing the sights and the old architecture, which is quite similar to Florence, we had a walk along the wall top for a while. As we drove north we had driven through some rain squalls but it was otherwise fine. We had no rain during our walk around Lucca at all. After our wall walk we walked a bit more through the northern, less affluent, end of the old city before finding a restaurant for lunch. We had not pre-ordered diner for tonight as we did not know if we would be back in time. Consequently we had a more substantial lunch. For first course I had Tortelli, meat filled and with a tomatoey and meat sauce and Garth had Pasta with a Gorgonzola sauce. Main course for me was Scallopine alla Limone (escalopes of pork with an olive oil and lemon sauce), and Garth had Coteletta fried and served with chips. His Coteletta was basically a crumbed and fried chicken schnitzel. The meal was good and certainly enough to keep us going for the rest of the afternoon. On the way back to the car I stopped at a Pasticcheria and had a Panino con Prosciutto made up to take back for the evening.
We had not fully committed to 'doing' Pisa but decided to do it anyway before heading back south. We had want to avoid the Autostrada but unfortunately found ourselves driving on it towards Pisa. On leaving it I tendered a €50 note for the tariff which turned out to be €1.70 but the guy did not bat an eyelid. We arrived at the vicinity of the Duomo and the Torre Pendente without incident and found cheap parking nearby - about a 5 minute walk from 'The Tower'.
There were the usual crowds to be expected around the tower and it is certainly an impressive sight, as is the Duomo. As we had arrived from the opposite side of the tower to the one seen in most picture, it was interesting to see the lean from the reverse direction. From where we first viewed it the lean seemed much more pronounced. Strolling around and looking back at the Duomo, it was apparent that part of it had also suffered some sinkage, probably before it was completed. This was something which I had not heard of before so was interesting to see. After imbibing a gelato each we headed back to the car to start our journey back south to the Rifugio.
We had decided to follow a similar route south to the one we used coming north but on the way to join up with that we got shunted on to a fast road which we didn't want. We got off at what we thought was a suitable exit as it was signed to one of the places that would be on our chosen route. Maybe we took a wrong turn or something but we ended up navigating a lot of very narrow streets and semi-rural roads before finally reaching the outskirts of a place that we could find on the map. At this stage we decided to invoke the aid of Karen, the GPS b***h to help us onwards for a while.
We told the GPS to plot a route for us to Castelfiorentino and, from where we were, it was fairly straightforward to get there. Following the GPS we were getting close to Castelfiorentino when we just missed a turn off to the left. At this stage we decided to cancel that plot and ask it to head for Certaldo which was on the route we would take from Castelfiorentino anyway. This involved us continuing on the same road, with no deviations or turns to make, and we found ourselves passing through Castelfiorentino anyway on the way to Certaldo. We still have no idea where 'she' was taking us.
After Certaldo it was a fast run on a good highway to Poggibonsi. The road passed through three fairly major tunnels on the way and tree was not much other traffic at all. After Poggibonsi we headed for Colle de Val d'Elsa before turning to the south west on the road which goes to Grosseto and Folonica. This road goes directly via Montieri and so gave us a good run back to the Rifugio.
All in all it was a good day and we got to see some bits of countryside which we had not intended to but all came out well in the end.
Monday, 26 May 2014
South-Central Tuscany loop
First day at Montieri after a good nights sleep. Last night we had a pre-ordered dinner at the Rifugio. I had just a serving of Lasagna as a first course only due to having had a largish lunch of Bruschetta and Pizza. Garth had gnocchi followed by Cinghiale (wild boar) with Polenta, and a Panecotta for dessert.
This morning, a continental breakfast saw us fueled up and ready to go. We had decided to explore by firstly heading west and south-west to Follonica on the Ligurian Sea coast. Driving down through the tight windy roads was reminiscent of driving in some rural areas of New Zealand where the joke was always that the surveyors were paid by the mile so put as many wrists and turns Into the road as possible.
Follonica is a pleasant coastal town with many camping and holiday areas, and marinas filled with expensive looking boats. Just south of Follonica we stopped near the top of a small hill where the road was close to the sea so that we could have a look across to the island of Elba, famous as the place where Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled to. It was a brilliant, sunny day and the island was clearly visible, perhaps 20km away. The Bay of Follonica was fairly flat sea but a breeze was rippling the water beyond the bay. A ferry service operates to several different points on the island from Piombino at the northern end of the bay.
After following the road down the coast from Follonica we headed for Grosseto, which we didn't really want to enter but needed to get through so that we could pick up a road heading towards Scansano and then Pitigliano. We got a bit hung up in Grosseto, but after a bit of winding through its one way system, we managed to find the correct road heading south by east and continued our journey. Of course we could have used the GPS to help but that would have been a bit of overkill for the purpose, and also removes the possibilities of chance happenings that might lead you by the wrong road but give you a chance to see something that you might have otherwise missed.
We arrived in Pitigliano close to midday but not before having an incident along the way. I was driving and as I was driving across a narrowish bridge I noticed that the left hand bend at the far end was a bit of a slow one so I changed down to slow a little. Right then a fecking eejit coming the other way overcooked the (for him) right-hander and strayed onto my side of the road. An instinctive twitch away to avoid collision caused me to scrape the right-hand side of the car on the W-Beam guard rail at the side of the bridge. We stopped when possible to have a look and it didn't look too bad - mostly stuff deposited on top of the paint that could possibly be buffed off but will probably cost the accident excess on the rental. Grrh!
Pitigliano is a (once) fortified hilltop town which has roots going back to the Etruscans whose caves can be seen down in the valley. After driving through and back and then parking the car we walked through the town looking for somewhere that would serve a light lunch and also have a restroom available. In the end we settled for an espresso coffee in a restaurant where the guy would dearly have liked us to have a pizza but got to use the restroom anyway.
After Pitigliano we drove north to Sorano which is another fortified hill town and also has an Etruscan history. Again we couldn't find anywhere to get a light snack but took the opportunity to refuel the car at a self-service station. This required us to figure out how it all worked but all was successful and we got our €30 of diesel and then set of north again through Elmo (tickle me), Selva, and Santa Fiora. We were really just navigating from one place to another to make progress towards 'home' in a timely manner. Along the way we passed by, and through, many picturesque villages and towns on some fairly narrow and twisty roads.
After Santa Fiora we went through Arcidosso where we stopped to visit a Conad Supermarket and pick up some supplies, including a sandwich for me to stop me from getting a blood-sugar low. Then it was on through Paganico, Roccastrada, Sassofortino, Roccatederighi before we picked up the road we had come down from Montieri on in the morning. Then an easy run up to Montieri on the home straight - which it was definitely not.
This morning, a continental breakfast saw us fueled up and ready to go. We had decided to explore by firstly heading west and south-west to Follonica on the Ligurian Sea coast. Driving down through the tight windy roads was reminiscent of driving in some rural areas of New Zealand where the joke was always that the surveyors were paid by the mile so put as many wrists and turns Into the road as possible.
Follonica is a pleasant coastal town with many camping and holiday areas, and marinas filled with expensive looking boats. Just south of Follonica we stopped near the top of a small hill where the road was close to the sea so that we could have a look across to the island of Elba, famous as the place where Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled to. It was a brilliant, sunny day and the island was clearly visible, perhaps 20km away. The Bay of Follonica was fairly flat sea but a breeze was rippling the water beyond the bay. A ferry service operates to several different points on the island from Piombino at the northern end of the bay.
After following the road down the coast from Follonica we headed for Grosseto, which we didn't really want to enter but needed to get through so that we could pick up a road heading towards Scansano and then Pitigliano. We got a bit hung up in Grosseto, but after a bit of winding through its one way system, we managed to find the correct road heading south by east and continued our journey. Of course we could have used the GPS to help but that would have been a bit of overkill for the purpose, and also removes the possibilities of chance happenings that might lead you by the wrong road but give you a chance to see something that you might have otherwise missed.
We arrived in Pitigliano close to midday but not before having an incident along the way. I was driving and as I was driving across a narrowish bridge I noticed that the left hand bend at the far end was a bit of a slow one so I changed down to slow a little. Right then a fecking eejit coming the other way overcooked the (for him) right-hander and strayed onto my side of the road. An instinctive twitch away to avoid collision caused me to scrape the right-hand side of the car on the W-Beam guard rail at the side of the bridge. We stopped when possible to have a look and it didn't look too bad - mostly stuff deposited on top of the paint that could possibly be buffed off but will probably cost the accident excess on the rental. Grrh!
Pitigliano is a (once) fortified hilltop town which has roots going back to the Etruscans whose caves can be seen down in the valley. After driving through and back and then parking the car we walked through the town looking for somewhere that would serve a light lunch and also have a restroom available. In the end we settled for an espresso coffee in a restaurant where the guy would dearly have liked us to have a pizza but got to use the restroom anyway.
After Pitigliano we drove north to Sorano which is another fortified hill town and also has an Etruscan history. Again we couldn't find anywhere to get a light snack but took the opportunity to refuel the car at a self-service station. This required us to figure out how it all worked but all was successful and we got our €30 of diesel and then set of north again through Elmo (tickle me), Selva, and Santa Fiora. We were really just navigating from one place to another to make progress towards 'home' in a timely manner. Along the way we passed by, and through, many picturesque villages and towns on some fairly narrow and twisty roads.
After Santa Fiora we went through Arcidosso where we stopped to visit a Conad Supermarket and pick up some supplies, including a sandwich for me to stop me from getting a blood-sugar low. Then it was on through Paganico, Roccastrada, Sassofortino, Roccatederighi before we picked up the road we had come down from Montieri on in the morning. Then an easy run up to Montieri on the home straight - which it was definitely not.
Sunday, 25 May 2014
Florence to Montieri
This morning was time to pack up and check out of the hotel. Garth and I were in contact and we had agreed that I would get a taxi after checking out, go to his hotel to pick him up, and then we would go to the airport to pick up the rental car. A good plan and it worked like clockwork. After getting dropped at the airport we had to take a shuttle bus to the car rental agencies place and join the queue to get the paperwork done.
We had decided to head vaguely south, heading towards our final destination for the day - Montieri in the Maremma region of Tuscany. We started off by heading slightly west towards Livorno and then turned south towards Certaldo in the Chianti region. This took us through some of the country I had travelled both on the bus tour, and to get to the start of the bike tour. On the way we actually travelled along some of the roads that we had cycled yesterday, including to the start of the brutish hill up to San Pancrazio. Since we were there I suggested we drive up to the cafe at the top where we could have a coffee and Garth could see first hand what the hill was like.
At the restaurant we both opted for a Latte Macchiatto which turned out to be quite different from what we expected, but quite nice all the same. We had expected something rather like a normal Macchiatto but this turned out to be a cup full of hot milk with the Macchiatto mixed in with it.
After that we continued to head south through Poggibonsi and then headed more south-westwards again to Colle di Val d'Elsa. There was quite a significant fortification there but we didn't stop and continued heading to Volterra. Volterra has a large fortification and sits on top of a hill. As we approached we also saw another quite impressive rocky hill not far away and, significantly, it did not have a village, monastery, or castle on top of it.
At Volterra we had to park elbow the village and walk up a longish flight of steps to get into the village. We found a place on the main street where we were able to share a Bruschetta, and a Pizza and a half-liter of house red. Very nice.
After Volterra we headed again south-westwards to Saline di Volterra where we turned south to head down through Pomarance, and later on Larderello. At Larderello there is a large power station and, from the large diameter steel ducts which criss-cross the area, appears to be geothermal. Not too much further on we were able to turn eastward again to our final destination for the day - Montieri. The Rifugio we are staying at is on the side of a hill in an area which used to be well known for mining of metalifferous ores but these does is covered with large tracts of trees.
During our drive today we passed through some very scenic countryside, all of it hilly, and ranging from the vine and olive co reed slopes of Chianti to the more regular fields near Volterra Nd then the forested country towards and around Montieri. Apart from the first kilometers closer to Florence, we encountered little traffic on the roads, especially outside the towns, and it was a very pleasant day traveling.
We had decided to head vaguely south, heading towards our final destination for the day - Montieri in the Maremma region of Tuscany. We started off by heading slightly west towards Livorno and then turned south towards Certaldo in the Chianti region. This took us through some of the country I had travelled both on the bus tour, and to get to the start of the bike tour. On the way we actually travelled along some of the roads that we had cycled yesterday, including to the start of the brutish hill up to San Pancrazio. Since we were there I suggested we drive up to the cafe at the top where we could have a coffee and Garth could see first hand what the hill was like.
At the restaurant we both opted for a Latte Macchiatto which turned out to be quite different from what we expected, but quite nice all the same. We had expected something rather like a normal Macchiatto but this turned out to be a cup full of hot milk with the Macchiatto mixed in with it.
After that we continued to head south through Poggibonsi and then headed more south-westwards again to Colle di Val d'Elsa. There was quite a significant fortification there but we didn't stop and continued heading to Volterra. Volterra has a large fortification and sits on top of a hill. As we approached we also saw another quite impressive rocky hill not far away and, significantly, it did not have a village, monastery, or castle on top of it.
At Volterra we had to park elbow the village and walk up a longish flight of steps to get into the village. We found a place on the main street where we were able to share a Bruschetta, and a Pizza and a half-liter of house red. Very nice.
After Volterra we headed again south-westwards to Saline di Volterra where we turned south to head down through Pomarance, and later on Larderello. At Larderello there is a large power station and, from the large diameter steel ducts which criss-cross the area, appears to be geothermal. Not too much further on we were able to turn eastward again to our final destination for the day - Montieri. The Rifugio we are staying at is on the side of a hill in an area which used to be well known for mining of metalifferous ores but these does is covered with large tracts of trees.
During our drive today we passed through some very scenic countryside, all of it hilly, and ranging from the vine and olive co reed slopes of Chianti to the more regular fields near Volterra Nd then the forested country towards and around Montieri. Apart from the first kilometers closer to Florence, we encountered little traffic on the roads, especially outside the towns, and it was a very pleasant day traveling.
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