2008 ITALIAN ODYSSEY - Sansepolcro

Monday September 29, 2008 – Sansepolcro

After another excellent breakfast at Hotel Alla Torre – Tower Hotel – we eased the car out of the parking garage and were off to Sansepolcro, our next stop, a journey of about 300 km/185 miles which we expected to do in a little over three hours using the  autostrada. All went well after we overruled TomTom on a stretch of road near Loreggia. Apparently the road we were travelling on had  not been built when Tom was programmed, so he kept telling us that we were in maize fields and urged us to get back on the old road.

He was more useful when we came to the several complex interchanges, some with toll booths, on the way. We were tempted to pop into Padua or Bologna as we bye-passed these two cities, but decided to press on. There was not much traffic and few road works so we made good time and were only a few minutes later than our original ETA.

The second arch is the garage entrance

The Hotel we had booked was the Albergo Florentino in the Old Town and we were guided there unerringly by our electronic pal. Once there, for some unaccountable reason, we abandoned all our home grown rules for choosing a hotel when travelling, the most basic being that you never take an offer from an hotel without inspecting the accommodation – that’s Rab’s job; mine is to negotiate the best price. But here we were, accepting what was being offered, sight unseen.

Car parking was provided but the entrance to the garage was so tight in such a narrow lane that I scraped the car going in – and I’m not sure it will polish out this time. I lugged the main case and several supplementary items into the hotel and it was only then that we found that our room was on the third floor – and there was no lift! Of course we should have declined to go any further there and then, but we pressed on – up four flights of stairs as it  turned out – 72 steps in all. I took things very slowly – my heart medication causes some problems with prolonged effort of this sort – but even then it was a long way up.

 

Not quite the view we had in mind.

The room was small, the promised view was of tiled roofs festooned with TV aerials and the access to the ‘roof garden’  was down a flight of stairs and out onto an area cluttered with all manner of rubbish. We asked for a room on a lower level and were offered one which looked out onto the street. It was minute – I could hardly move around in it and it contained two beds with sagging mattresses and unmatched covers. In a word or two it was “quaint” – and awful. Rab and I looked at each other and as one decided that we couldn’t take that level of discomfort.

The proprietor was very pleasant and took no umbrage at our rejection of her offerings. We manoeuvred the car carefully out of the garage and made our way up the hill a little to the Hotel La Balestra. I thought the name might refer to whales, confusing balena  with balestra which are actually crossbows since the family which owns the hotel has been involved in that sport for the past 400 or 500 years. Another excellent hotel with everything spick and span – and we ate in the hotel restaurant tonight and had a very pleasant meal – and we had our own small piazza off the bedroom – an area with a table and chairs sheltered from view but open to the air.

Mother and daughter

We wandered around the town this afternoon and Rab’s eyes lit up when she heard that there is a market tomorrow. We’ll tour around after the market. It is a lovely old town – just what we had in mind as a typical Italian town. Old churches, lovely buildings and some interesting statues. I particularly liked one of a young girl leaning over the shoulder of an older woman making lace. Sitting at a sidewalk café, sipping on our wonderful coffee we couldn’t help grinning at our good fortune.

2008 ITALIAN ODYSSEY - Castelfranco #2

Sunday September 28, 2008

I didn’t sleep very well last night as the sposi parties kept going around the square. My ear plugs helped in the end and that meant that I almost missed the big parade this morning. I guess it was a veterans march. Led by a large number of  cyclists, who were followed by the marching band, came a number of older men all carrying banners. The music sounded martial.

Castle walls at Castelfranco

Another excellent breakfast – a crisp roll with assorted pork pieces thinly sliced: ham, speck, porchetta and salami – with two pieces of tremendous cheese: a glass of blood orange juice: a chocolate filled pastry: and a cup of cappuccino to finish off. Tremendous, yet when he stayed here Boet complained about the paucity of the fare “No eggs – not even scrambled.”

Garden in Vincenza

Since we had a WiFi link, I checked my e-mails – nothing of great moment there and then we headed for Vicenza. TT. Guided us there very well and was particularly useful because so many of the streets were one way. But we had the same problem as yesterday – no parking. After doing some alley-work through the network of one way streets we chanced on a spare place on the street. It wasn’t a particularly interesting part of town, but we wandered around for about an hour taking in what sights there were – some lovely little gardens; a glimpse of a river; some attractive old buildings – before heading off again.

Rab with some of the antiques

This time Rab chose a place called Piazzola sul Brenta on no other basis than it showed up on the map as a small place. Well, indeed it is, but it also hosts what we were told is Europe’s largest Antique Fair on the last Sunday of each month. There were at least 500, maybe more, stalls, most of which were selling the biggest load of junk you’d ever see in one place. There was some lovely old furniture – huge in scale – and the odd piece that we might have been interested in, but otherwise…..who buys this stuff? We stopped off at a book stall run by a couple of Poms. They were selling English language paperbacks at two for a euro. You’d have to sell a lot of books at that price to keep a roof over your head! I bought an old hardback copy of Mark Twain’s book about his European tour which looks as if it will be good value at Є2.00 – mind you it would have to be pretty bad not to at that price.

 

The Palazzo - how many rooms?

The fair takes place in the grounds of a huge palazzo dating back to the sixteenth century. It was not accessible, but was enormous stretching almost as far as the eye could see either side of the central building. Well, maybe not that far, but certainly very imposing. 

Rab and me in a mirror portrait

Outside the gates of the palace there was an old man playing the accordion with his dog at his feet. A nice thing about the fair was the number of people who had their dogs with them. They seem popular pets and all seemed to be very well cared for. I gave a donation to the local equivalent of the SPCA and received a knit cap in exchange. Bright yellow, it will be  good for winter mornings to keep my ears warm.

Having walked our feet off to no avail, we headed back to the hotel for an afternoon nap and then went across to Resana for our evening meal at the Central Hotel where we had such good tucker the other evening. The traffic was very heavy going there and the car park was almost full – we only found a place when some cars pulled out and left. The people were crowded around a van that seemed to be selling fish and chips, although a closer inspection showed that it was prawns and the like – at what seemed to be very inflated prices. Maybe the quality was good. We went across the road and were greeted by the little Ghanaian girl who had served us last time and who spoke very good English, as you’d expect for someone from Ghana. We each had an excellent pasta – Amatriciana and Arrabiata and shared  a half litre carafe of house wine – all for the bargain price of Є21.50.

Another very pleasant and interesting day.

2008 ITALIAN ODYSSEY - Castelfranco

Friday September 26, 2008 – Castelfranco

We slept well last night and after a reasonable breakfast were on our way by 08.00, reversing the car very carefully past the Mercedes.

We made good time down to Castelfranco, getting there about 10.00. I had found the long drive to Cortina more tiring than I thought it would be, so we decided to take a couple of days to explore this region. We thought the Hotel del Torre where James, Boet and family had stayed looked pretty nice. They quoted us what we thought was a very reasonable rate of Є90 which included a parking space in their garage – one which required the wing mirrors to be folded to fit in. They were happy to let us check in and drop off all our luggage and we then headed across to Loreggia. We got a very warm welcome again from the Bastarolo family – and enormous lunch: two meat dishes plus vegetables: cheese and fruit and cake. No wonder we could eat no supper tonight. 

After our meal we packed the rest of our bags into the car, bade farewell to the Italian family and brought Sue and Mike across here to Castelfranco so they could re-pack their bags. I felt bad about not taking them to the airport, but I was bushed and actually dozed off before taking them to the station. We certainly enjoyed our time together and have many very happy memories to share with them.

 

Sue and Mike leave us

After dropping them off we popped into a Super-Mercato in Resana and bought some crackers and snacks and a tub of shrimps for our evening meal, which we ate in our room. Rab was asleep by 20.00 and I followed not long after.

Saturday September 27, 2008 – Castelfranco

Rab slept for nearly twelve hours and felt a lot better for it. The bed was very comfortable and the breakfast was excellent – and our room was made up while we had breakfast. We had decided to set off to see some of the villages that Sue and Mike had suggested which they had visited with James in the week before the wedding. First stop was Asolo, a small village on a hill top. It was market day, which excited Rab, but there was simply no parking anywhere so after negotiating the alleyways we found our way out of town and headed for Bassano del Grappa, a bigger town, with an even bigger market as it turned out.

There was a large underground parking garage into which we found our way which had plenty of spaces available. What we couldn’t work out was how we were to pay for our stay. (At that time parking garages in Australia all issued cards on entry which were used to calculate cost on exit.) I found the answer fascinating. On entry, our car registration was photographed – we had wondered why we were penned in on entry. To exit the park, we had to enter our registration number into the cassa, a copy of the picture came up on the screen to be verified and it then calculated the time since we entered and the cost. On  exit the car was photographed again and the registrations matched up. Quite nifty!

 

Another day, another market

The market was….well, another market for me, but Rab was in her element and managed to make a couple of purchases. After we had done marketing, we strolled down to the Alpini Bridge, which commemorates the Alpini troops who collected funds for its rebuilding after its destruction during the war. The murder of  ten partisans towards the end of the war is also memorialised. It is a lovely covered wooden bridge with very pretty views. They are so typically Italian and we stood there for quite some time taking it all in.

 

View from Alpinin Bridge with memorial wreath

 

(The video clip above may not be visible on some devices)

After picking up a couple of gelati on the way – Rab still hasn’t been able to match the caramel gelato she enjoyed in Sienna – we made our way back to the car park but couldn’t for the life of us remember, or find the pedestrian entrance. A passing Senegalese who spoke only French and Italian managed to understand what I was looking for and guided us on our way.

Marostica Castle

Our next stop was Marostica where there is a spectacular town wall and castle. The car park on the outskirts of town had space to spare, so we grabbed a spot and trekked into the town. Turned out that we could have driven and parked where we liked as the town was deserted since it was after twelve o’clock. All towns close for at least an hour between 12.00 and 13.00 every day. Some. But not all the bars stay open and we were able to get a small sandwich and an iced coffee – and take a lot of photos. (The iced coffee was in the ice cream freezer and was excellent – but we never saw it for sale again and have never seen it since.)

 

Lovely cottage in Marostica

Home we came for a bit of a rest before joining the evening promenade in the piazza and then settling in front of the bars with a beer for Rab, a Campari soda for me and some complementary snacks. (Why can’t other countries be as civilised with their free snacks with drinks?) a very pleasant way  to spend the early part of the evening.

Nothing like a chilled beer!

Dinner was at the same restaurant that Bruce and James had taken us to last Friday and we each chose a pizza from the enormous range on offer. Both were delicious and all the better for being washed down with a good bottle of red.

We saw many weddings today – apparently it is the season and as I write a wedding party has just gone by, hooting and cheering with shouts of Sposi! Sposi! Newlyweds! Newlyweds! They are a happy bunch – but I hope we’ll get some sleep tonight!

2008 ITALIAN ODYSSEY - Mountain Drive

Thursday September 25, 2008 – Mountain Drive

We checked out of the Hotel Riviera this morning with promises to return and a fond farewell from Gianni.  We were headed for Cortina and the snow line. The route we had chosen, (Map Here) with Gianni’s help had us moving pretty well up the  autostrada heading to the Brenner Pass and Austria and then getting on to the Via Gardena (S242) said by Gianni to be the most picturesque mountain road in Europe.

But…..before we could set off, I had my blood test to do. The doctor in Melbourne had recommended that I had the test because of the potential effect on my INR from the antibiotic I was still taking.  There was an ospedale in Gargnano which operated from 8 in the morning until 12 noon daily. Gianni had established that they could do the test, but that they required a doctor’s order. He obtained this from his own doctor for me.

I duly reported at the hospital, climbing the long staircase up from our level which probably dealt with a few of the calories I had absorbed during another wonderful breakfast on the hotel veranda. Have I mentioned the brioche with lemon cream already? If not, it was one of the best things I have ever eaten; warm from the baker over the road, light as a humming bird’s wing and filled with this delicious sweet/sour limone – just wonderful.

 

Last breakfast at Gargnano

Leaving the party to their second and third helpings, I headed uphill, as I say. Naturally no one spoke Inglese there, so I produced the note I had written in anticipation of this event. In English it said:

“I need a blood test. I have heart disease and I take the medication Coumadin / Warfarin. The test is called, INR in English (International Normalized Ratio). I'm taking antibiotic drugs for my infected throat that can affect the test INR. Can you tell me where is a centre of pathology?” 

Babelfish had rendered it into Italian as:

Ho bisogno di un'analisi del sangue. Ho malattia di cuore e prendo il farmaco Coumadin/del Warfarin. La prova è denominata, nell'INR inglese (rapporto normalizzato internazionale). Sto prendendo le droghe antibiotiche per la mia gola infettata che può interessare la prova dell'INR. Potete dirmi dove un centro di patologia è?

They had a bit of a laugh but nodded their understanding and after filling in numerous forms and they gave me a test tube for the blood and a note in English – possibly translated by Babelfish saying I had to go to the Post Office to pay a fee of Є6.85. I had not noticed a post office in the village as we walked around, but established with broken language and gestures where it was and set off back down the long flight of steps. I bumped into the rest of the party who were stocking up with rolls, meat and cheese for lunch. I duly found the post office and paid my fee plus Є1.00 tax to a rather bored clerk and then dashed back to the hospital with my receipt. The nurses gave me a warm reception and introduced me to a young intern from Mali who took my blood sample very well. They told me the result would be available at 14.00 and gave me a number to call.

Corvara

All done then…. so I got the car out of the garage where we had parked overnight and headed down to the hotel to pick up the troops and we were finally on our way. We got onto the motorway and maintained a good speed until we were just outside Bolzano where there was some congestion from road works and heavy industrial traffic. It soon cleared and we were off on the road to Cortina. It certainly was spectacular from the word go with outstanding views. It was quite strange to see the change in architecture with the houses changing from the Italian style stone houses to the more Bavarian style wooden designs. The countryside was magnificent – steep and green – and when we stopped for our lunch break beside a little stream in Corvara we could see the mountains topped with snow. What a place for a meal – beats any restaurant in my book.

We had already been up some steep and winding roads but after lunch both the bends and the steepness increased. It was an amazing ride altogether made more so as we met several large tourist coaches along the way.

The picture does not really do justice to the twists and turns we encountered

How those drivers manage the hairpin bends is amazing. We had two close encounters with these monsters. One of these had us coming into a downhill left hand blind bend to find a coach on our side of the road! There was no other traffic so we were able to slip past on the wrong side of the road. Again we wondered what it would be like driving here in the height of the tourist season – or in winter!

 

The views were magnificent

We got closer and closer to the snow and then, as we topped one of the passes there were small flakes on the windscreen. Snow is always an exciting event for us, given our background of living in warm climates all our lives – I first saw snow when I was nineteen or twenty. It was melting as it hit the ground, but still it was snow.

There were so many lovely sights, it is difficult to recall them all, although the small chapel on a hillside was one of my best memories. Miles from anywhere that we could see, we wondered who built it, when and where did the congregation come from?

There was a slight shower of rain as we arrived in Cortina and we had to laugh because TomTom brought us into the town in a most peculiar way. We were persuaded to turn off onto what started as a reasonable road, but one that deteriorated into a narrow lane and ended up as a virtual goat track past farmhouses – and almost through them – before leading us back to the road we had been on. Taking the ‘straight line’ approach Tom had cut off a large bend, but added about  five minutes to the trip. I don’t know why he has this aberration from time to time but it can be disconcerting as we squeeze through alleys and archways designed for donkeys.

Although we knew that Cortina was essentially a winter resort, we were surprised to find that it was virtually a ghost town. Hardly any traffic or anyone in the streets. We finally found a bar that was open – the ladies were busting – public toilets being as scarce as hens teeth in Italy. We had a  cup of coffee and then were on our way again. I especially wanted to push on to somewhere that would be within a couple of hours drive of Loreggia as we were due there at noon to have a last meal with the Bastarolo family. The rain got heaver as we left the area and by the time we were getting into Belluna (via another tortuous TomTom route – we were clearly slow learners) it was raining pretty steadily.

Having made it to the piazza in the centre of the town, we asked a policeman there (who tried to move us along rather vocally) where the nearest hotel was – he pointed to one a block away, which we had just driven past, no doubt  mentally shaking his head at the stupidity of these darned tourists. Rab and Sue went in to inspect and negotiate a price. It turned out that there were only two rooms left – one at Є102 and the other a suite at Є120. Rab said we’d take them, although Sue wasn’t too happy as their budget was Є80 and she felt we shouldn’t take the first offer. I don’t often put my foot down, but I did then because I sure as heck didn’t want to start driving around the wet dark town – and, as I pointed out, Gargnano had been well under budget. Mike brought her around to our way of thinking before too long.

The room price included parking in the back yard of the hotel but by the time we got the car there ( a remarkable feat in itself!) most of the space was taken up by a gang of motor cyclists. The only  space available was a small one between an Audi and a Mercedes Benz 350 SLC. Going in I misjudged the turn and clipped the front bumper of the Mercedes with my right rear. I hope it looked worse than it was, because we pretended that it never happened.

It turned out to be a good decision – to take the room, not to scrape the Mercedes – because it turned out that there were very few hotels in town and none near where we had parked. The young lady on duty spoke quite good English and was good enough to call the hospital in Gargnano to get my INR number, which was OK. She also gave us directions to a local restaurant where we had a reasonable, but not good, meal. Rab had veal which seemed more like beef: I had pork which had been badly butchered so I kept getting splinters of bone. We shared a dish of spinach and carrots which had been cooked to RSL club standards i.e. overdone to almost a pulp. You can’t win them all – we have had mostly excellent meals until now.

And so to bed in our enormous suite – we could probably have had a party for twenty people in the lounge section

2008 ITALIAN ODYSSEY - Lake Idro

Wednesday September 24, 2008 – Gargnano

It looked like another lovely sunny day judging by the sliver of sky we can see from our minute balcony. We have only had one rainy day since we have been here. Waking to the gentle tolling of the bells of a nearby church was special. I thought it was delightful and recorded it on my camera. Gianni said it drove him mad as it plays twice a day every day in season. Rab soon told me to stop playing it too.

We had a wonderful breakfast on the hotel veranda watching the sun break over the mountains to the East and start warming it up. Great spot; great breakfast – lemon filled brioche still warm from the bakery across the street with fresh fruit juice, coffee and ham for the croissant. What more could anyone ask for?

 

Ready for the off.

The plan today was to drive up to Lake Idro (which I guessed, correctly as it turned out, was short for Idroelettrico or Hydroelectric – a very clear name) via Limone which was north of us. Taking Gianni’s advice however we reversed the route and went up to Lake Idro by what he said was a much more scenic route. (Map Here) And indeed it was. We took a small road just outside Gargnano to start with. What a road that was – more twists and turns than a politician at election time. Fortunately in very good condition and with not much traffic. Again we were struck by how many motor cycles we saw. They seem a very popular form of transport here.

 

Lower reaches of Lake Idro

Is that Sleeping Beauty behind?

The views were spectacular and we stopped a couple of times for photo opportunities. One of these stops was at a little village called Capovalle at the head of a pass (hence the name Head of the Valley). It was pretty nippy up there – 9°C according to the car’s thermometer. Over the pass heading towards the foot of the lake the Crones were delighted to find a village with their name and wondered if there was any connection. We all had a laugh about that - there was some doubt given their Yorkshire background – but took a shot of them by the road sign anyway. Nearby was a most curious monument to the Alpini troops who had fought here. The statues looked as if they would be more in place in a Disney park.

A happy mob.

On we went through the mountains and stopped at the head of the lake for lunch. I had bought fresh rolls from the baker and delicious ham, salami and cheese while Mike had bought some local red wine. That was less good than the food – rotgut being one description, but then at Є2.99 a litre one couldn’t expect more.

 

Head of Lake Idro

It was absolutely stunningly beautiful: sunny and warm with hardly a breeze to disturb the water. In the photos we took it is difficult to tell which way up the shot should be because the reflections are so clear. The water was clear too – we could even see trout lazing along in the shallows. Magic in a   word.

 

Mountains and water - good combination

On our way, still through lovely country and villages (and tunnels  - Sue was counting them at one time and got up to thirty one before she gave up) winding our way down to “sea level” just south of Riva del Garda and heading for Limone sul Garda. This was something of a pilgrimage for the Crones because it was where their other son, Simon had married, an event they could not attend.

Limone is one of the major tourist destinations on Lake Garda and was quite busy, with a number of coaches in the car park above the town. The pathway/road down to water level was cobbled and very steep and I must say I wasn’t too keen on heading  down it. We’d had a long day – it is quite tiring driving at these levels of concentration – and my feet were still giving a bit of gyp from Venice.

Limone bell tower.

But…..it was important for them, so we staggered on down, wondering how the heck the bridal party had managed the trip – and more importantly WHY? Turned out to be a bit of a damp squib in the end as the hotel where the wedding breakfast was held was closed as was access to the terrace where the ceremony took place. So we had a coffee at one of the lakeside bars, watching the passing show, and then slowly and steadily trudged back to the parking garage. We were soon on our way back to the Hotel Riviera via an incredible bit of road and more tunnels. These tunnels were amongst the most scary I had driven through to date. Carved many years ago when vehicles were somewhat slimmer and with rather poor lighting they frightened both me and the passengers.

The restaurant where we ate last night was closed but there was another nearby which was as good. We still laugh at Rab’s outfit. It was pretty cold again and she didn’t have much warm clothing, so wore her pyjama top as a spencer and was as snug as a bug.

And so to bed after another cracker of a day. They just seem to get better.

2008 ITALIAN ODYSSEY - Gargnano

Tuesday September 23, 2008 – Gargnano

There was a bit of thunder during the night and it was still dull and showery this morning. The lady of the house had celebrated her sister-in-law’s birthday last night and when we didn’t hear our friendly rooster crowing, we wondered if he had featured on the menu? Not so, we were told – it was just the weather that was keeping him quiet.

After duly checking out, we went to pick up Sue and Mike – and to drop off our excess baggage – at the Bastarolos as there is no  way we could have fitted all our luggage and the Crones’ cases in the boot. As it was, with one small case each, the fit was good. We were on our way before 09.00 heading for Lake Garda along the Milano Autostrada. Although there were some showers, they were not enough to delay us and we sailed along splendidly until we hit some severe traffic congestion where roadworks were being carried out. Not a big problem, but it did delay us a little around Verona. We were aiming for Desenzano to avoid the heavy tourist presence at Simione at the foot of the lake – and our plan succeeded. We were still flying one of the while ribbons used to indicate that our car was part of the wedding party and laughed as passersby shouted “Sposi!” (newlyweds!) or hooted as we went by.

The first sight of the lake was glorious as the sun was shining by then. After driving along the lakeside for a while we decided to turn off and get a cup of coffee. My three guides were unable to agree precisely where we landed up but it was a lovely spot with a small harbour in a sheltered bay. We had a very welcome cappuccino, a delicious pastry each and some bladder relief before going on our way up a bit of a goat track one way ‘street’ that had me folding in my wing mirrors. The girls had a huge laugh about the facilities provided at the café, which was a squatter toilet. Sue’s advice was to always use the disabled toilet as there was usually a throne there.(In this video clip, Mike explains which hand should be used in the toilet and Rab gives her opinion. Video may not show up on tablets.)

Church ceiling

The views of the lake got even better as we headed North. We stopped off in one small town to have a look around and to post some letters and cards. The church, although small was delightful. On we went and at one of the photo stops we found we were above a little village that looked very attractive. As lunch was calling, we agreed to investigate further and found ourselves in Gargnano, a small part of heaven as things turned out.

Gargnano - Riveira Hotel on the point

It was a lovely sunny day by lunchtime and we sat on the boardwalk sipping our choice of beverages – birra/campari soda/spritzer and saying how lucky we were in our lives and how fortunate to be together in such a beautiful place. (An old uncle of mine had emphasised the importance of recognising how good things were when they were.)

Sue, Mike and me

After we had eaten a delicious light lunch, Rab suggested we should think about staying for a night or two and using Gargnano as a base to explore the local area. She found a delightful hotel right near the restaurant. This was the Hotel Riviera, just two storeys of rooms, but very comfortable and very reasonable at Є65 per night.

The owner/proprietor, Gianni was a very nice bloke. He spoke good English, was very helpful and he and his wife were widely travelled. They shut up the hotel for two or three months every winter and spend most of that time travelling – what a life! We had a meal this evening in the restaurant in front of the hotel, on the lakeside. I had the local speciality of thinly sliced salt beef and bortolli beans which was delicious. The others had veal dishes of various sorts and were enthusiastic about those as well.

A good start to our joint travels.

Gargnano by night