Italy

July 4 – July 16

 

Aaahhh Italy. My third visit to Italy, but I am just as sure as the first time, that it wont be my last. Can’t quite pinpoint exactly what it is about Italy, but I just love it. Everyone is so laid-back, beautiful towns and scenery and of course there’s the food and coffee.

 

We headed North-East from Southern France through the Piedmont region to Milan. The area is known for it’s gastronomic delights, including Barolo wine, truffles amongst others. But for some reason everything was shut. Couldn’t work out if it was a public holiday or if everything is normally shut on a Monday. Either way, wasn’t good for my mood! Until that is, we found a great little co-op that was open... heaven. Except that because of the heat, the fridge isn’t working the best so couldn’t risk buying too much food.

 

Not much too Milan unless you’ve got a deep wallet and a big wardrobe to fill with beautiful clothes. I had to do with browsing and window shopping. The Duomo and the surrounding streets are beautiful, but a few hours was more than enough for us to get around. We rode our bikes in from the campsite, about a 25km round trip. Nice and flat so a relatively easy ride but so so hot. Lovely sweat patch on the back from the bag once we got back.

 

Next Stop, Lake Como. Again, loved it. Didn’t spot any famous faces, but then I’ve been known on a few occasions to walk directly past and even bump shoulders with quite famous people and not notice. Our campsite was right on the shore of the Lake, about 10km from Bellagio. Awesome view. The Espana v Deutschland match was on while we were there. A crowd of about 60 crowded outside watching a little tv. Great atmosphere, especially with quite vocal fans from both sides.

 

Could spend a week just exploring all the villages around the lake. Although the area is known for it’s famous locals, it just doesn’t have the same pretentiousness as the Southern coast. Much more relaxed. I was also surprised at how quiet the lake was. Maybe we caught it on a slow day, but was expecting to see a lot more boats and other watercraft on the Lake.

 

Como is also known for its Silk industry. My Lonely Planet (2010 edition) suggested a local silk producer to go and visit. The guide even had an interview transcript with the owner discussing how the Como silk industry will never die out, as people are aware of the quality etc etc. Turned up at the factory / outlet... It’s closed down. Moved to Switzerland. Another Aussie couple had turned up when we did, though they’d walked up from the town, not driven like we did, so were not impressed at all that it was not open. Strangely, the cafe inside the non-existent gallery is still open for business.

 

Cinque Terre (5 towns). We stayed in a town, Moneglia, just North of the Cinque Terre National Park. Prime land demands high prices, accounting for the steep camping prices for very little space. Suppose when there are cliffs and steep hills down to the sea it’s a bit hard to sprawl out. We walked to 4 of the 5 towns, only missing out on the last one, Monterosso. Really wanted to do the whole 5, but it was just a little too hot and the legs were starting to feel like jelly. It is a great walk though. Magnificent views and beautiful towns along the way to catch your breath and fill the water bottles up. Thoroughly enjoyed the swim in the bay at our last stop, Vernazza, as well. If I didn’t have to get on a train to get back to the campsite I would have walked straight into water fully clothed. Which is pretty much what Matt did, and forgot to empty the pockets J

 

Drove through beautiful Tuscany via Chianti and Florence on our way to Bologna. Where we stayed 3 whole nights. The most time we’ve spent in one spot since England. Bologna is not as touristy as most other places we’ve been so far. Most likely why we liked it. Not too many historical sites either. It’s all about strolling through the markets, particularly the food markets, drinking coffee. Two of my favourite past-times! We also learnt how to make hand-made pasta at La Vecchia Scuola. No machines involved, just flour, eggs, a rolling pin and lots of effort with the arms! Enjoyed eating the pasta (Tagliatelle, ravioli, tortellini) afterwards as well, which they served with 2 bottles of wine, an orange liqueur, coffee and chocolate cake. Yum Yum. Looking forward trying it out again at home.

 

Bologna is also where we were to watch the final of the World Cup, Holland v Espana. Nice close game, was hoping Holland would win or that it would at least go to penalties.. oh well... There was such a huge Dutch crowd at the campsite too, am sure they would have gone crazy.

 

Final Italian stop was Venice (after a brief stop at the Ferrari Museum in Maranello), where we caught up with Garry. Didn’t do too much sight-seeing having been there before. Caught the ferry into town, wandered around, got lost, ate gelato. Actually I think that’s exactly what I did last time I was there!

 

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