Category: Animals

Back to Travel and Watching the Races!

A near panic situation at the start of my current journey – at 4:45 in the morning the car wouldn’t start! Turns out I likely left the inside light on the day before when I went to the store and overnight and it killed the battery. My little Sly guy would have been happy if I hadn’t been able to leave – he’d taken to sitting in my suitcase as if I could take him with me (I wish I could!).

A frantic call to a local cab company and they arrived in only 3 minutes to race me to the airport for my first flight. Second flight left almost on time after de-icing, and I got to spend a few very boring hours in Toronto airport.

We boarded on time, then spent another very boring two hours before leaving – I watched a whole movie. We had to wait for the catering van to load food – the first one had broken down and they had to send another one or else we would starve. Then we had to de-ice before taking off.

As usual I didn’t really sleep at all, even though the plane was barely half full and I had some room to stretch out a bit. Watched another couple of movies, then the first few episodes of ‘White Lotus’.

We arrived in Rome over 1 ½ hours late – passport control was all automatic and no one cared. Colin was waiting right outside the exit door and off we went. We stopped just outside Trevi at a nice sosta for the night.

The next morning we passed through Papiano to say hello to Antonio, then continued on to Monte Buono where we had a nice lunch at our favourite restaurant there. We then went just a little further to the town of San Feliciano where we found a lovely sosta right on the shores of Lago Trasimeno.

We went to Pila the next morning so I could get my hair cut by my Italian barber, stopping along the way at Mugnano for a very nice cappuccino. After my perfect haircut we headed to Marsciano to visit the phone shop and arrange service so I could get good reliable wi-fi in the campervan. We got a SIM card that was supposed to have very good capabilities but would take a few hours to ‘become active’. We went back to the nice spot on the lake and waited, but alas the service never kicked in.

We tried and tried and got very frustrated before giving up, deciding that nothing we were doing was actually going to make it work.

The next morning we returned to the phone place in Marsciano and when even our friend there couldn’t make it work he ‘cloned’ the SIM card and told us again that it would take a few hours to become active. We chose to go a few miles out of town towards San Venanzo where we pulled into a large parking area and had a bite to eat.

After the local three hour lunch period we returned to the phone place and eventually our friend solved the problem after shutting down and re-starting our mobile router several times with the SIM card in it – yes!!

We then got on the road to one of the ‘Strade Bianche’ sections just outside Asciano – the same place we’ve seen the race from two or three times over the past few years. There was already one campervan there – from Switzerland – then another couple arrived, both of which were from Italy.

We had a nice quiet night and got up to a sunny, although slightly breezy race-day morning.

We had a good idea when the race was going to arrive – both by watching the GCN coverage on my ipad, as well as the progress of the helis and fore-running vehicles.

The race was neither very dusty nor very muddy. There had been rain a couple of days before and it had dried out just enough to not be muddy, but not yet dusty. Good for the riders but not so much for the typical conditions that they are famed for.

I did get a good shot of Alaphillipe and Van der Poel… and also Sagan…

After they had all passed we watched the end of the race on GCN – not really pleased with the finish. Tom Pidcock from team Evil (ooops – sorry! – Team Ineos) won and the rest raced for second – bunch of losers! I felt like sicking the dog on them!

Actually the dog in the campervan next door to us was very nice and still a bit of a puppy so not sure if he would have gone after anyone – but they do deserve a bit of a bite in the ass!

Lake, Castle, Home…Happy Cat!

Feeling a little better we began to slowly make our way again, going a little bit south to Orbetello.

It’s kind of an island, but has three different ‘causeways’ connecting it to the mainland. We drove to the northeast corner and the small town of Porto Santo Stefano, which seemed to be a fairly prosperous place.

It had a lovely boardwalk and lots of cafes/restaurants, in addition to being both a fishing port and marina – also had some rather nice yachts.

We stayed for one beverage, then as we went to get back in the campervan the local coast guard fellow came up and told me that parking there was not allowed. I explained that we were leaving right then and he was ok with that – he didn’t know we’d already been there for almost an hour.

We then headed basically east as I wanted to see Lago di Bolsena – it was one of the places I had thought I’d go to at the beginning of my very first bike trip back in 2017, but sadly never made it to.

It was a lovely drive and I was glad to have seen it – we had lunch in the campervan on the shore of the lake. Colin’s still not feeling 100% so meals are a bit sparse – at least his are.

Overnight camping was not allowed so after lunch we continued north a bit to the town of Torre Alfina. It has a nice large car-park and a very well-preserved castle from the 1600’s.

We went for a walk and got a gelato cone – a bit sweet for me – then continued on up to the castle.

It seems to be a bit of an ‘artsy’ town as there are wall murals, strange statues and artwork all over.

There was a couple having a photo-shoot at the top of the castle so I had to wait a bit before I could get a shot of the views from where I wanted.

They were pretty nice, especially when I told them I was from Canada, and I took a quick photo or two and then we left.

The drive down to Ostia the next day wasn’t too bad, and we got around Rome without much slowing down. We parked in the same car-park right across from the Sea that we’d used before – there seem to be quite a few campervans that are permanent residents.

I walked to the nearest pharmacy and got a couple of things for Colin’s cold, although he does seem to be doing better.

Up early the final morning and off to the airport. No problem at all getting checked in – they didn’t even ask for a covid vaccine certificate or negative test.

Three flights later – and I’m home! The cat is happy…

Castellina in Chianti, Asciano, Papiano, Grosseto

It poured rain all night long and was still coming down the next morning. There was a large sportiv on and as we tried to follow two other campervans out we were stopped by a traffic marshall. After waiting several minutes and no riders appearing we took off the short distance to the upper parking area and dealt with our black water.

Heading along south we were dodging the sportiv riders the whole way until well past Erba. The racers the day before had such better weather and conditions – I felt a bit sorry for the sportiv riders, but they were a bit of a pain clogging up the road.

We didn’t go all the way to Papiano, but stopped instead at a lovely town in Toscana – Castellina in Chianti. There was an aire just at the edge of the town centre so we joined several other campervans for the evening.

The next morning as we were finishing our tea a policeman pulled up and started checking all of the campervans. It turns out that ‘any parking area with blue lines’ means we should be paying to stay. We hadn’t seen the ticket machine which was way down at one end but the fellow was very nice and waited while Colin went and got a ticket.

We took a walk all along the main street of the town – I can imagine that in the summer it’s a fairly crowded place. They’ve made an effort to make it attractive and friendly – lots of nice little shops and cafes, with of course, the usual excellent italian coffee.

At one old door there was a basket with some very large rabbits in it, along with a donation box for their care – Colin made a deposit.

We decided to go grocery shopping in the larger nearby town of Poggibonsi, then continue our journey from there.

We got diverted off the route we wanted and ended up having to turn back when we came to a walled entrance to one of the little towns and the gateway was too narrow for us to pass. Several locals waited patiently while we did a u-turn – luckily there was a nice wide driveway right there so it wasn’t a problem.

We stopped again at Asciano for the night – we’ve now been there several times as it’s on the Strade Bianche route and we like the area. The next day was a nice short trip to Papiano to finish cleaning out the house. The first thing we did was throw a load of laundry in, and as soon as the water was hot enough each had a nice shower. It’s amazing how good a shower can make you feel when you haven’t had one in so long!

It was really nice to see Antonio and a few of the other locals down at the bar – unfortunately there’s also mr. creepy. We stopped at the yard with the turtles – the babies are going sleepy for the winter but the fellow showed us one of the big ones that was still about. One of it’s feet had been injured and it looked like it had lost several toes but otherwise was ok.

We arranged with Antonio to get one of the local guys to help us move all of the stuff from the cellar to the campervan – he’ll come by tomorrow afternoon.

We took the opportunity of being in the area to get haircuts from our favourite hairdresser. He’s opened his own place in the village of Pila so it was a bit of a drive but we’re both very happy with the results. Note: a couple of the photos are from the previous year – they’re not actually still requiring masks in Italy.

We got a couple more loads of laundry done, and the helper arrived with his girlfriend and a small trailer in tow around 5:30. Two loads later the cellar was fairly empty and the ‘garage’ in the campervan was stuffed full – I’m actually amazed that everything squished in.

We’ve been feeding chairman meow, and he now has a friend as well. We left some extra food with Rita as she takes care of them in Angelo’s absence – he’s now working in Rome.

The bell in the tower is working again, although it doesn’t seem quite as melodious as it used to be.

Leaving in the morning was again sad, but even if the house does sell we’ll still come back to Papiano now and then to say hi to some of the people – others…not.

We took ‘the scenic route’ to Grosseto on the west coast, passing through some very beautiful countryside along the way and including the towns of Montepulciano and Montalcino. There are some very nice wines produced in the area, and also lots of olive oil.

Grosseto is on a large plain and it’s a very short drive to the sea – the beaches are lovely and wide and the sand is very fine. It’s not crowded now but in summer I bet it’s packed. There are large restaurants all along but most of them seem to be closed already.

Colin and I have both had colds although he’s more affected by his than I am by mine. It’s very unusual for either of us to be sick so we’re just taking it easy parked in the large parking area. I’ve been taking the dogs for nice long walks while Colin rests and hopefully feels better soon.

Back to Spain to make a House a Home

We got away from Mansle nice and early on a Saturday morning and even made it past Bordeaux without having to slow down much. Crossed the border into Spain same as usual, only knowing we were in another country by the slightly different road signs.

We made good time and arrived at the hotel just outside Zaragoza before dark. It looked like at one time it was a pretty fancy place – marble stairs, etc., and every second guest had a dog. Spain isn’t quite as dog-friendly as some places so where dogs are allowed you’ll definitely find lots of them.

Another early start the next morning and we headed generally south and a bit east. At one point we saw some smoke off to the left and not much later saw a convoy of army fire trucks heading towards it – they’re not wanting anything to get out of control in the current dry conditions.

We followed fairly main roads all the way home – the car’s GPS didn’t seem to know some of the newer roads but we knew where we were headed and I had my ever-present maps so it wasn’t a problem.

We got back to the house mid-afternoon and were glad to unload and relax for a bit – it’s been a lot of travelling in the last few weeks.

While we were gone the solar panels for the hot water had been installed as planned and the pool drained – not as planned. Apparently there was so much mud in the bottom from the dust storms in March that the filter simply couldn’t handle it and it had to be drained and several inches of mud shovelled out by hand.

Since then we’ve arranged several more things but the most annoying has been the water situation. Apparently not only did we need to take over the ‘rights’ – it was even part of the deed of purchase – but also had to become members of the local water co-op. The plumber’s wife – who is also our pool cleaner – helped interpret for us at the water office so we could get things rolling.

A few days after arriving back we saw a small pillar of smoke coming from the north just below the sanctuary. Not long after there was a spotter plane, then a couple of helicopters with water buckets dousing the blaze. Again – taking no chances, thank goodness.

We’ve done a bit of outside work as well, such as chainsawing the old and rotting wooden rails around the decks, and planting some lovely colourful flowers in some of the windowboxes and planters.

Also putting up some of the artwork from Papiano has made the inside seem more like a home and less like just a house.

The days are usually quite sunny and are getting hot but there’s almost always a nice cool breeze in the evening and again in the morning.

Sitting on the terrace beside the pool is very relaxing – jumping in for a swim will be even more so once it’s filled a few days from now.

A Lunch, A Sportif and Another Lunch, and…The Ballet (Go Ukraine!!!)

On Saturday there was a meal at the bar that we really enjoyed. It started with a salad that had pieces of meat in it – when I asked the english fellow that was sitting next to me what it was he said some fancy french name. When I asked again – no, what is it? – he revealed that it was chicken gizzards. I was a bit concerned that it would be like liver or kidney but it wasn’t at all – it was actually pretty tasty and reminded me a bit of pork. I ate most of it, although did have a bit of help from both Colin and Mo.

The main course was duck leg served with creamy mashed potatoes and truffle – it was absolutely delicious, and probably the best meal I’ve had at the bar. I couldn’t manage the cheese course or the dessert, although they both looked equally good. We’ve met the english fellow before and he’s quite nice – he has a big old dog that’s blind and very well behaved, even when food is around.

The next day we attended two events. The first was a sportif sponsored by the local cycling club – there were four different routes depending on how far each rider wanted to go. We helped out at the food stop that was setup at the ‘lake’ near Luxe – we made sure all of the various food plates were re-stocked as groups arrived and devoured things.

After the last riders had left we helped pack up and take things back to the hippodrome, which was the location for the start and end of the four routes. About an hour later all of the helpers regrouped for a lovely lunch of roast pork and a potato and cheese dish, along with a nice green salad and the usual crusty french bread.

The second event was very enjoyable as well but a bit more serious. We’d gotten tickets to the Kiev ballet and the place was packed – I estimate there were probably 700 or 800 people there.

It was a fund-raiser for the ballet company as they’re basically trapped and unable to return to Ukraine because of mad-dog Putin and his insane illegal invasion and attempted genocide.

They started out with a demonstration of basic warm-ups and exercises, then got into the real show – and it was thrilling.

They did a lot of different numbers, and at the end got a rousing standing ovation.

We really, really enjoyed the evening, and it seemed everyone else did as well.

We packed lightly and got away again on Wednesday morning, crossing from France to Italy through the tunnel and reaching Susa in late afternoon.

We’d booked a B&B and it was a nice little family-run affair with boys playing basketball in the courtyard and grandma and grandpa tending the backyard garden.

After settling in we went for a short walk – some nice little ponies next door and a couple of donkeys next to them.

Also back the other direction some very nice looking goats.

After breakfast at a decent time the next morning – including the best coffee we’d had in months – we were on our way again by about 8:00. We made pretty good time for the first couple of hours, then started noticing how heavy the traffic was becoming. We almost came to a standstill at some points, even though there were virtually no semi-trucks on the road.

We finally googled and found out that it’s a holiday in Italy and folks seemed to all be off to the Adriatic coast for a four-day weekend – bad timing! Luckily as soon as we turned south towards Perugia the traffic died completely – barely any, although lots of road construction.

We arrived in Papiano early evening, stopping at the bar for a quick drink and to say Hi to Antonio.

Settling in to Saliente

Settling into the house has been very easy in some ways, and in others not so much.

It’s wonderful to be in my master bedroom with the huge bathroom, but the hot water wasn’t working so we couldn’t have showers. Also the washing machine kept stopping because of ‘not enough water’.

We got hold of a local plumber and arranged for him to visit. We want to replace the gas cylinder water heater with a solar one, as well as the house heating system. The current system uses red diesel and neither of us likes that so we’re going to get a pellet burner for the main living room that will act as both a fireplace and heat the radiators as needed.

The plumber’s wife does pool cleaning which we badly need – you can’t even see the bottom of ours through the algae and muck. There’s also a crappy ‘jacuzzi’ on the terrace by the pool that we’ll have to empty and dispose of.

It turns out that the hot water does work, although the canister did need replacing. The problem was that we kept testing the hot water in the kitchen, where for some very strange reason the hot water pipe was not connected (or turned on, or something). Anyway I did get a very nice shower before we ran out of all water.

The plumber came up the next day with his wife, who said she could definitely rehabilitate the pool, while he went down to the lower, larger water tank and opened something up that allowed a bit more water to be pumped to the smaller upper tank that feeds the house. He also arranged for another fellow to partially fill the lower tank from his tanker truck in a couple of days.

A few days later we went into Albox and had another meeting with our bank guy – he helped us setup our new cards, and we also arranged house insurance.

Back at the house we realized that the loud ‘cawing/squawking’ that we’d been listening to day and night was not a large exotic bird, but a small frog living in the pool.

I thought I’d rescued him and proceeded to scoop him out (on only my second try with our new net) and deposited him in a shady part of the garden in a bit of water. Well – it turns out he didn’t want to be ‘saved’ or relocated, as the very next morning we found him once again singing his mating call at the top of his lungs from the pool.

We’ve seen other local wildlife such as rabbits, and this morning Colin saw a fox, who seemed to be interested in the rabbits, but I was too slow to get a pic.

Sitting on the terrace at any time of day is very pleasant, and there’s always a beautiful view to be had.

I’m also enjoying being able to do yoga again – my master bedroom is large enough that I can put out my mat with plenty of room to spare.

Another fellow has come to do some measuring for balustrades for the inside stairs, as well as fencing for the front yard. It’s quite a large space so we’re only going to enclose part of it – the raised beds for our veggie gardens will be outside the fence, although we will have to ensure that they are rabbit-proof.

One afternoon we walked the dogs on the rambla to the nearby restaurant – it was just packed, and there was a bouncy-castle for kids and music playing. We didn’t think it was an after-funeral party and decided it was either a wedding celebration or christening party. There were lots of kids and the little girls were all dressed up with frills and bows – very cute.

When I sit on the terrace beside the pool it’s easy to envision how it will look next year with some strategically placed flowering shrubs in pots and a couple of nice large umbrellas – it’s going to be gorgeous and I can’t wait!

Getting the House!

We arranged a second visit to the new house in order to find out about where fuse boxes and water controls, etc. were. The current owners were very accommodating, and while Andy (from the estate agents) did an inventory of the furniture that will be left for us we walked around with the owners and they told us all they could about everything.

There are two water storage tanks and the lady told us who to call when we need fill-ups. She’s so nice and is leaving us a list of who to contact for everything we might need.

It was very nice to find that I loved the place as much on the second viewing as I did on the first – I can’t wait to move in!

We’ve taken a couple more drives around the area – we figure if we’re going to host the odd small bike group once in awhile we better know the best places to ride.

Yesterday’s trip was quite long, but some of the countryside was so beautiful it made the hours worth it.

On the way back we missed a turn in one of the small villages and ended up going for a few miles on a rambla, but we made it ok and ended up where we expected near the sanctuary.

We signed the deed for the house almost a week ago. Waiting at the notary office for almost two hours was a bit nerve-wracking but in the end it was all ok. Our lawyer had sent the funds for the purchase ‘the slow way’ and the sellers didn’t want to wait 3 or 4 days for the $ to show in their bank so our lawyer went off to the bank and had them recall the funds and re-send them ‘the fast way’. No problem!

We were given the keys and I almost skipped for joy. A quick run for groceries and we were on our way to our new home!

The next day we arranged for the wi-fi service, but all else will have to wait for three days as it’s yet another long weekend here.

The first thing we discovered was that we had no hot water – first on our list now of what we’ll have to deal with. Next will be getting the water tanks filled, arrange for the pool to be cleaned before mid-June, and have the heating system checked. Oh – the joys of home ownership!

Day Trips and The Shaggy Dog

A few days ago we took another day trip to the Sea, this time heading for Playa de Mojacar. It was quite a pretty area but we could see that it would be infested with tourists in peak season – even now it was almost over-run by brits.

We did have a nice drink at a cafe, then took a walk along the beach back to the campervan before driving a bit further north to the beach near Villarico again. We actually got the lawn chairs out and sat in the sun before having lunch overlooking the Sea.

Another day we took a little drive north, going through Taberno, then taking a smaller road winding through the hills to the town of Velez-Rubio.

There were very few settlements along the way but mile after mile of lovely almond orchards. The distance was 32 km and it took an hour.

We took a short walk around and had a drink before heading home via a different route. This time we went west to the town of Chirivel where we turned south – and was it ever a beautiful drive.

We ended up joining the road that goes past the Sanctuary, then on down to Albox.

Again we got to sit in the sun for a bit, and we watched as more and more campervans arrived – Pedro, the owner, had told us he was hosting a paella party and had invited some friends. The place wasn’t totally full, but there were dozens and dozens of new arrivals.

Saturday was another beautiful sunny day, and the music started around noon. The paella was served up mid-afternoon and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

Although the ‘party’ ended quite early almost everyone stayed for another night.

Since Henry was getting very shaggy he was starting to look like a sheep so he got a grooming.

It took about two hours and he’s now half the dog he was before.

Now instead of looking like a woolly sheep he looks like a baby lamb.

A Brief House Hunt

We got hold of the estate agents and they managed to book three viewings for us mid-week.

As we had a day before the viewings we drove to the nearby village of Arboleas and had a coffee.

There are lots of brits here but the village was lovely none-the-less (hahaha – just kidding – I love brits).

There seemed to be an extra large number of cats in the village, some of which were quite cheeky – sitting on parked cars, and sauntering by slowly taunting the dogs.

After our coffee we walked around a bit, then got driving again and just kept going. It’s less than an hour to the sea, so we drove past Vera and north a bit along the coast to Villaricos.

We found a large space next to a beautiful sandy beach and had our lunch, then took the doggies for a walk into the town.

The next day we viewed three properties, all of which are ‘country houses’ as we requested but as we drove to the first one we wondered if we’d chosen the wrong category.

Part of the drive to the first house was on a ‘ramblas’, which is a dry river bed – well, dry most of the time other than a few times a year when it’s briefly flooded. The road is maintained and not too terribly bad, but the house was quite remote.

The house had a lovely pool area and lots of rooms but was rather dark inside and other than the terrace around the pool there was no outdoor space.

The second house was even more remote, and badly needed a lot of work before being habitable. The owner was a brit who gave up during covid and basically abandoned the house to the lizards and the elements. While we could see great potential if fixed up, there was just too much to do.

The last house of the day was on a better road, but the house itself as well as the pool, while nice, was quite small – the koi pond wasn’t enough to make up for it.

As we discussed it later and the next morning we decided to look for ‘villas’ rather than ‘country houses’ but had to eliminate quite a few as they were right in a town. We visited the office and had a good chat with George, who is british but speaks fluent spanish.

He helped us narrow down what we should actually be looking for, and mentioned a large country house that had recently lowered the asking price. We hadn’t noticed it before as it had been above our budget at the time, but now wasn’t. Someone was viewing the house that afternoon, and we indicated that we were eager to see it also, as soon as possible.

The next morning we got a call from George – the homeowners were open to seeing us in less than an hour! They had received one offer on the house, and it was insultingly low – they are desperate to sell so wanted to see us asap.

We met Andy, the very nice fellow that had taken us around the other day, and he led us to the house which was about 20 km out of town.

The only hitch was the side road up to the driveway – it wasn’t paved and with the amount of rain recently the dirt road was a bit soft and the campervan couldn’t make it up. As we tried repeatedly to back up and get more speed a tractor came behind us. He realized we weren’t going to make it so pulled back and over a bit so we could back down past him to the paved road and pull over on a conveniently placed wide spot.

We walked the short way up to the house and one of the owners was waiting for us. As we’d watched a video about the house on the website earlier we kind of knew what to expect – and we weren’t disappointed.

After a tour of the grounds, pool area, and the house we had a quick private discussion and made an offer on the spot. It took about two minutes for the agent to get a positive response from the owners and we shook hands on it! And for less than the asking price, which was already discounted quite a bit from the original.

We were in the office later that same day signing the papers and are already waiting for a response from a solicitor to take care of the legal paperwork, etc. We own a house in Spain!!

From Papiano to San Martino Canavese – via Cavour

The next day was a day of rest, laundry and watching the final day of Tirreno-Adriatic as well as Paris-Nice on tv. Winners of each were as expected – the two Slovenians, Pogacar and Roglic.

Pogacar won TA in rather convincing fashion, but Roglic needed a good effort from Van Aert to rein in one of the Yatesies on the final climb of PN.

Packing up again on Monday morning didn’t take long as we hadn’t completely emptied the campervan the other night. Saying goodbye to Papiano once again we left under beautiful sunshine and a clear blue sky.

Without being in any super-great hurry we ended up continuing on all the way to Cavour. As we got further and further north the sunshine disappeared behind the clouds and the rain started, but we made it to the fruit farm ok.

As usual the dogs were in the courtyard to great us – mama Maya and her little one Spreet (he’s at least five now but still smaller than his mama, and she’s tiny) as well as the young lab that they got a few years ago when the old lab died.

It rained most of the night but by the time we got up it had stopped. After a nice shower and some breakfast we saw the older fellow (father, we think) approaching. His english is much worse than my Italian, and I managed to convey that we were just finishing eating, then would get some water and be ready to leave in about an hour. That seemed ok as he said he’d be in the courtyard and we could find him when ready so he could open the gates for us.

The farm must be doing ok as there’s a shiny new tractor in one of the outbuildings. In addition to producing the fruit they also make it into jams, etc, have occasional lunches and dinners, and sometimes run a pre-school. Accepting campers isn’t a huge part of their business, but we’ve enjoyed staying there several times now.

The first time for me was five years ago when I spent six or seven days there upon my return from Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Colin came and picked me up and we went to Mt. Ventoux for the dedication of the Tom Simpson memorial. Colin had know Tommy years ago in his riding days so it was quite special.

The drive to our next destination didn’t take too long as it’s only a bit north of Torino. Very shortly after leaving the motorway we saw a pink arrow and it was easy going following the route from there to the small town of San Martino Canavese that we’d chosen to watch the race from the next afternoon.

We had a nice chicken and rice lunch and spent the rest of the day reading. Relocating just a bit for the night we found a large flat area across from the cemetery – far enough off the main road that the traffic noise was much less.

I took a walk around the cemetery the next morning, and was just pondering the fact that many of the folks residing there had lived to nice old ages…

…other than the ones named at the two war memorials…

…when I saw a teddy-bear. The baby only lived a couple of months, and the plaque was very touching, being from ‘Mamma and Papa’.

The Alps loom in the distance, still of course, covered in snow.

Mid-morning we went for a walk through the town looking for a cafe – there’s another war memorial next to the steps going up.

We didn’t find a cafe, but did come across barking dogs behind every second fence.

Having some time before the race arrives we took a short drive to the next decent sized town on the route, managing this time to find a nice cafe that served delicious Segafredo coffee – totally worth the search.

Back at San Martino we parked in an area right on the race route, and settled in to wait. A police car pulled up to warn us that the road was going to be closed soon but we assured him it was ok – that’s what we’re parked here for.