Got up fairly early but didn’t leave to go out until mid-morning. Had a nice cup of tea first, followed by breakfast and a second cup of tea before heading out for a walk to the beach. Went thru the park across the street from the hotel, then down one short street to the seaside.

A lot of the beach is ‘private’ and there are only certain places you can actually access the water at ‘free’ beaches. Passed one cafe that had a bunch of flags on it – at least the maple leaf was right-side up this time as opposed to the one we saw yesterday on the way into town that was hung upside down.

Walked along a ways until we came to a nice little cafe that we chose to stop at for a drink. By now the sun was out and I wished I had put on my shorts. Sat for a bit in the sun, watched the waves hit the shore – couldn’t decide whether the tide was coming in or going out. Planes coming in to land at the airport nearby were basically lined up on the same path every few minutes for awhile, then just stopped – guess the wind direction changed, or else all of the aircraft controllers were gone for a 3 hour lunch like most of the shopkeepers here do (just kidding – maybe they were joining the police for a quick donut break).

An Italian man sat down at the table next to us and the doggies both went over to make friends – they think anyone that’s nice to them has sausages or treats in their pockets just waiting to hand them out to cuties like them. We started chatting with him and ended up talking for over an hour. His name is Roberto and usually he has his red Irish setter with him but today he was alone. He’s now retired but is the former CEO of the largest book/printing company in Italy and has travelled extensively, including living for a couple of years in different countries. He and his wife (his third) have adopted two Ugandan orphans and are going to visit them soon.

 

He’s going to go to Baja California in January to see the whales that give birth there, then is going to Vancouver Island in June to see the whales there, and maybe some bears as well.

We had seen a cute cat that was curled up in a planter below us – it was watching a gecko that was on some steps – running back and forth trying to crawl up to the next step but slipping back down every time. At one point we noticed that the cat was no longer in the planter, but was walking at the bottom of the steps with the gecko’s tail hanging out of his mouth.

 

Shortly after Roberto left Colin and the doggies and I continued our walk, and stopped at another cafe back the way we’d come. We were sitting outside and enjoying the sea and the sunshine when poor little Bennie got sick. The bus-boy wasn’t very helpful – he indicated that he wasn’t going to clean it up, but at least gave Colin some paper towels.

Some of the older buildings must have been really something many years ago – I imagine this place was a great weekend getaway for rich folks from Rome.

 

Back near the hotel we went to a store at the next corner but it was closed – that pesky 4 hour lunch again. Read news a bit, then went back to the store after 5 and it was open. Read more news, did some puzzles – another quiet evening.

 

 

After breakfast and then checking out we walked down the stairs to the cafe and a cup of cappuccino. For some reason the wi-fi wasn’t working for me so I took the doggies for a short walk around and took a couple of final photos of San Venanzo.

The route we followed when leaving was mostly on quiet back roads and the countryside was very beautiful – many olive groves in mid-harvest with large green nets at the base of the trees. The first larger place we went thru was Orvieto, where we took the wrong road out and had to back-track a bit. Much of the town is on a high rock cliff that you can see for miles.

We kept heading southwest to the town of Bolsena, on the shore of Lago de Bolsena. The lake was lovely and the town looked, even in October, to be quite touristy. We drove along the eastern shore, and stopped at one point so I could take some photos. There was a war cemetery and the memorial indicated it was for Commonwealth soldiers. During WWII the Allies landed at Anzio to the south of Rome and I guess this was where a big battle or something happened a while later. There was also a monument to Piero Taruffi, an Italian motorcycle and race-car driver.

After leaving the lake we passed thru Viterbo, then Vetralla, and eventually could see the Sea in the distance. The countryside wasn’t quite as nice – mostly very flat and with more industry, and the weather had changed from sunny to overcast.

Passed several portions of old an Roman aqueduct along the way to the actual seaside at Civitavecchia, which has a harbour for large ferries, etc. We drove south along a secondary highway and eventually passed the airport en route to our destination of Lido di Ostia.

At one point only a few km from Ostia the traffic slowed to a crawl, and it wasn’t just regular rush-hour traffic, but an accident. One car was bashed in on the side and had swung so it was completely blocking an exit to another highway, and another car was further along our road right on its side. Police had just arrived and were trying to sort things out – didn’t see an ambulance but don’t know how it would have gotten thru anyway.

We managed to find a parking space close to the hotel that Colin had booked online, but no one answered the buzzer. There was a phone number so he called it but got no answer, although a few moments later Daniele pulled up in his car. He let us in and showed us the room – one large bed, but it looked like it could be pulled apart into two small ones. We went back downstairs to retrieve the rest of our luggage and the dogs, and when we got back up Daniele said – ‘oh, you wanted two beds, didn’t you – here, take this room instead’. It’s really nice and large with a double bed and a single one, a table and chairs, lots of floor space and a nice tiled bathroom. Outside the room there’s a complete kitchen for our use – fridge, stove, everything.

We got settled a bit and used the wi-fi, which is pretty fast with a strong signal. After a bit we took the little ones out for a walk and to get them some more food. By now it was almost dark, and the streets were getting very busy with people all over the place.

The hotel is very well located – only a couple of blocks (thru a park) to the sea in one direction, and 3 or 4 blocks to the metro station in the other – it has a shuttle-bus every half hour to the airport which is great – it’ll save Colin having to drive me in for my flight.

Had a fairly early night – didn’t even turn the tv on.

Woke up a little early so heard the church bell alarm go off at about 6:49 – not sure how many worshippers needed to be woken at that time, even on a Sunday, but it chimed 104 times – not kidding, I counted. Not quite the warm, sunny day that we’ve become used to – went outside in my shorts, as I have the last several days, but quickly headed back upstairs to change into my long pants. Drove up to Papiano for the great cappuccino and wi-fi.

Next we went to Montefalco, which was the end of the ITT that we watched back in May. There are still a few reminders that the Giro was here. We were very surprised by the number of people on the streets, and after we picked a place for lunch it just filled up.

The restaurant was really cute – the first thing I noticed was all of the musical instruments hanging from the ceiling in every room, then noticed the currency notes displayed behind glass on all of the walls (saw a Cdn $5 note in a couple of spots), as well as miscellaneous photos and artwork. Another big thing was their incredibly inventive use of wine corks. There were curtains on the door, window ‘blinds’, candle holders, everything you could imagine made out of corks – I could have built a house if I’d thought to keep all of the ones I’ve gone through!

We had a nice corner table – with the doggies! – in a small room to the left of the door – it was hard to tell how crowded the rest of the place had become. A couple with a young boy sat down next to us, and another couple with two dogs came in shortly after – I motioned for them to not come in to our little room and the lady smiled in understanding, because of the growly doggies, and took a table in the next room.

Very shortly after we sat down we got a bowl of bread and a plate of large green olives – gratis. We ordered local red wine – and I mean really local – produced less than a km away, I believe. It was very good, and it wasn’t the 300 euros per bottle one that was listed on the menu. To eat I got risotto with mushrooms, and it was very delicious.

They brought us a blue iced drink – again gratis – Colin thought it had booze in it, but all I tasted was a light coconut flavour. We asked for a second glass of wine each, but the waitress only poured Colin one and then walked away. I took my empty glass up to the bar but the waitress had her hands full, although she indicated she understood what I wanted. A moment later the waiter appeared and apologized as he topped up Colin’s glass, and then gave me mine.

We walked around the town a bit more after leaving the restaurant, then made our way back to Marsciano – it was a little early yet to return to the hotel. The cafe/bar we’d been to before was closed, so I took the doggies for a short walk so I could take a better photo of the ‘reclining lady’ statue that we’ve passed every day on one of the small roundabouts. She was very beautiful, but was missing her hands.

Went back to San Venanzo and freshened up a bit, then walked with the little ones down to a cafe on the main road, just down some stairs from the hotel. When we arrived it was almost empty, although we sat outside. As time passed it became more and more crowded – seemed like the place to be on a Sunday afternoon/evening in the village.

Face-timed Dominic to confirm my flight time. Beautiful sunset. Had a nice light salad for dinner back in the room. The laundry I did yesterday morning still wasn’t dry – hopefully it will be ok to pack up by the morning.

After breakfast we headed up to Ospedalicchio so Colin could check out a home supply store – looked at paint, kitchen cabinets, windows and fencing for his house in Papiano. At least he’ll know where to take Neil if/when he comes in the spring to do a few repairs.

When we left we headed west past Perugia and through Magione to Lago Trasimeno, which was very beautiful.

Drove south then west along the lake, stopping at Monte Buono for lunch at ‘il Ristoro’, that advertised ‘cucina tipica’ and had several cars in the parking lot, all with Italian plates.

We ordered at the window before we entered the eating area inside – doggies were welcome. There was a large outdoor eating area for the summer, and the glass panels around us could all slide over to open up the whole place. Colin ordered the penne with tomato, which turned out to be spaghetti, while I ordered gnocchi al ragu that was actually more like fettuccine, but very tasty. The place filled up as we sat there – again all Italians, rather than tourists. Outside in the parking lot there was a really cool red motorbike with a side-car – we had a good look at it and it’s a classic from 1958.

Took more small back roads and stopped at Poppy’s in Papiano for a drink and to use their good wi-fi. There was a football game about to come on tv and the bar was filling up so we moved outside for a bit before leaving to walk up the hill and have another look at the fence, etc of Colin’s new house.

Stopped in Marsciano and were very surprised by huge crowds and celebrations in front of the NKD store – they had e balloons in the air, a small carousel, and masses of people milling about – we think it was a grand opening as they had just finished a traffic circle right in front a few days ago, and were frantically planting small trees and bushes just yesterday.

On the road up to San Venanzo we stopped at the small chapel that we’ve passed every day since we got here. It is adorable, and has seats for far more people than I thought it would – maybe 20 or so. There’s a key in the open door, live plants and flowers, and soft electric lights. It seems to be more about Mary than anyone else, but was very nice and peaceful – despite being about 10 feet away from the road.

Had another picnic-type dinner in the room – still haven’t seen little gecko again (it was on a corner of the wall when we arrived – at first I thought it was a giant spider, then I put my glasses on and calmed down). The doggies never saw it so we assume it either got out somehow or is hiding in a corner waiting for us to leave.

Ate breakfast, then hit the road for Todi, where Colin was to meet Danila to sign some papers for the house. She had emailed him the name and address of the cafe she said to meet in, but he was unable to open the map she’d attached, and the GPS couldn’t find the address so we just drove into Todi and parked near the top of the hill.

We stopped and asked a young lady if she knew where the cafe was and she gave us directions, saying it was near a super market, and was about a 7 minute drive. We drove in what we thought was the right direction, but ended up turning around and going back to Todi, but not up the hill.

We got more directions, the cafe isn’t actually in Todi, but Ponteria, which is at the bottom of the hill and across the bridge. We found the super market, but couldn’t find any cafe with the name ‘Delicious’ so asked another lady – it was right across the road, but didn’t have that name anywhere in sight.

Colin went in and saw Danila right away – she had been looking up his phone number to find out where he was as we were by then about 20 minutes late for the meeting. We ended up following her back to Todi and right up the hill again. We parked and took a funicular up steepest part of the hill to the old town, and walked just a bit to get to the office where Colin could get an Italian tax number.

I, meanwhile, took the doggies to the main square and parked it at a cafe where I had a delicious cappuccino while waiting. The chairs all had nice cozy blankets folded on the backs and they were perfect for sitting on or wrapping a shivering little dog in.

Colin and Danila appeared after a bit, and were then off again so he could open a bank account, so doggies and I stayed at the cafe and had a glass of wine (for me) and some water in my coffee saucer (for the doggies).

The wine arrived with a small plate of potato chips and tiny pizza bits and the doggies were trying everything in their power to get some – they did get a couple of bites each against my better judgement. They were very good for most of the time, except whenever another dog passed, then the barking would start – I did have a good grip on the leash this time, though, so no near disasters.

After about two hours little ones were getting restless so I paid up (not cheap wine!) and took them around the piazza a couple of times, always watching out for Colin in case he came to the cafe looking for us. When more and more time passed I began to worry that he’d come to get us while we were walking around and I’d missed seeing him. I had just asked the doggies if we should try to find the car (I had the keys) but they were non-committal about it, when Colin showed up. It had taken all that time just to open a bank account – I had read before that anything requiring paperwork in Italy could be very time consuming, and they weren’t kidding.

We made our way back down to the car, and in the parking lot there was the friendliest little black and white cat – it came right up to me (after the dogs had gone on with Colin) and rubbed against my leg looking for pats – it didn’t look skinny and scruffy like most strays do, so I think it probably belonged to someone. We then went back to the Delicious cafe for a quick bite before Colin went into Danila’s office to sign more documents. Danila was already in the cafe having her own quick lunch and was just about ready to leave – we found out when we went to pay for ours that she had already done so for us. The pizzas we had (3 different pieces) were all really tasty.

Colin went into Danila’s office, which was just down the road, almost next to the bridge, while I stayed outside near the car. I wandered around a tiny bit – always within sight of the car – Colin came out after awhile to tell me it was taking longer than expected – although that is to be expected in Italy, after all.

Paperwork finally done we headed back to Marsciano to the store, then on to the hotel. Had another light dinner, flipped channels a bit – couldn’t find any more cheerleaders vs couch potatoes, or anything else in english. Ended up reading my travel journal entries right from the beginning, which I haven’t done before – got as far as July 14 – the day before my first Tour de France stage.

Had a nice shower followed by a complimentary breakfast downstairs. There was no butter out so I used orange jam on the bread with the ham – if it rhymes it must mean they go together (ha ha).

Left for Papiano at 10:00 so Colin could meet the real estate agent and see the inside of the house. We got there a bit early so went into Poppy Bar for a cappuccino (and it was delicious). Colin met the agent in the main square – she was driving a different car than she’d said but he knew who she was right away anyway.

We followed her up the winding road to the parking area then walked the rest of the way to the house. It was even better inside than outside – tile on the main floor with nice counter-tops and a washing machine, really great fireplace too. The windows seem much larger from the inside than they did from the outside.

The bathroom was fully tiled and seemed fairly new, and the two bedrooms that were upstairs were lovely. Again no carpet, but wood laminate, and a couple of the windows had decent views. There’s a nice little terrace out on the side – space enough for a table and chairs and a couple of planters – perfect for sitting and enjoying a cup of coffee or perhaps a glass of wine.

I took a bunch of photos so Colin can show Neil the general state of the house and what work might need to be done if the purchase is completed.

I left with the doggies so Colin could talk numbers with Danila and went back down to the main square for a glass. Colin arrived awhile later and while he was inside the bar a small cat tried to sneak by our table – but of course not much gets by the ever-alert little ones. They took off so quickly they almost knocked the table over – I had their leash wrapped around my leg but when I lunged to grab the glass-topped table and glasses the leash slipped off me and away they went after the poor cat at full speed and volume.

I saved the table and glasses, as well as my camera, and took off after them – running down the middle of the road and calling them, waving my arms like a madwoman at an oncoming car while the dogs completely ignored me. The cat made a dash thru some garbage cans and up the side of a hill while the dogs got caught up on the cans – being that they were still tethered together. I finally caught up to them and grabbed the leash – a car that had been behind me as I made my mad dash after them stopped and had a good laugh at me as I walked the doggies back up the street to the bar.

In the meantime Colin had come out of the bar and wondered where we had gone. My heart was racing and I was shaking, but the doggies were just fine, if a bit disappointed.

We went back up to the house so I could take some photos of the outside, which needs a little plaster-patching at the bottom, then left the village. It was still early in the afternoon and we weren’t ready to go back to the hotel, so we went for a drive over the hill towards Bevagna.

I had always wished to return to Pian di Boccio, the first campground I stayed at (for 10 days!) and where I had met Colin in May, and we had talked about popping in for a visit. The GPS guided us up a small side road, and I said that the road looked familiar and I thought I’d ridden on it before, and then lo-and-behold we were beside the lower part of the campground. We pulled in and the gate-arm was down so I got out and went onto the terrace and there at a table was Maeke with her kids, and grandpa Vincenzo nearby.
She recognized me right away and got Luisa on the phone to come say hi. The two little boys opened up the gate so Colin could drive in and we sat on the terrace and had a really nice visit. Luisa made tea and served us a local dessert roll with fruit in it that a friend had made for her. It was so good to see them and they were so friendly and seemed happy to see us and hear what we’d been up to, and that I hope to come back next year – maybe I’ll see them again! And there was good news about Maeke’s husband (Luisa’s brother) – his leg is on the mend and he just needs a bit more physio – at least he’s not going to lose it, which was a possibility back in May.

After our visit we drove as far as Bevagna, then turned around and made our way back to the hotel.

Had a nice salad for dinner in the room, and actually found an english-speaking program to watch out of the 187 channels – cheerleaders vs couch-potatoes on a silly obstacle course.

 

Ate a small breakfast in the room, then left the Hotel Brianza around 9:00. Stopped for coffee at an ‘AutoGrill’ along the motorway, then continued on southeast until we turned onto another highway heading southwest thru the mountains. Found out by reading the local news that the smoke we saw yesterday near Susa was from a new forest fire in the valley and many people have already been evacuated – I hope they get control of it.

After a bit Colin mentioned that the area looked familiar and we wondered if it was the same highway that we’d taken north when we left Pian di Boccio back in May. I looked up the photos I’d taken that day and thought it could be the same route, then saw one I’d taken of a tunnel and the accompanying sign – all of the tunnels have names and the sign also shows how long they are. The photo I was looking at was of the Quarto tunnel and it was 2600 metres long. No sooner had I said that than we came upon that very tunnel – same sign, but from the other direction – we were on the same highway.

They were doing some road-work so we had to take a small diversion thru the town of Bagno di Romagna, which was very pretty. It was where the Giro started the day after we’d seen the ITT on May 17, and there were still pink ribbons and decorations up all over the place. When the Giro comes thru a place they celebrate it for a long time!

We passed by Perugia and kept going south to Marsciano, where we stopped for a bit of a walkabout then sat down for a drink and some pizza – which was very good, with a nice thin crust and delicious cheese.

Next we drove to the village of San Venanzo where Colin had pre-booked the hotel – it was all locked up and no one answered the bell, so we decided to go to Papiano and see the house he was interested in.

We parked the car and walked up a couple of roads but they weren’t the right ones. We asked a lady that was sitting outside her house if she knew where Linda the english woman lived – she said oh yes – in the rose coloured house with the green shutters – you go back down to the square and up the hill on the other side.

We followed her directions and found the house – up a hill with fairly steep small winding roads for cars and lot of stairs for walking. We had a look around the outside – it’s on one end of a block of 4 or 5 connected houses. There’s a church bell-tower very close by and I’m trying to learn to like the bells. This one is on time (not 3 minutes late, like some) and tolls the hour with one bell and has a second chime with another bell with a different tone if it’s 15, 30 or 45 minutes after the hour.

Back down in the square we had a drink (coffee for Colin, red wine – surprise surprise – for me). Took a different road back to Marsciano, then San Venanzo, where the hotel was now open. Colin confirmed with the manager that the room had two beds, and he said no, it was one large bed but if we gave him 10 minutes he would re-make it. He did show us the room – more like a suite – and we went for a walk while he re-made the bed.

We are almost at the top of a hill and there’s a large park that used to be the grounds of a count’s chateau, which is still there. There are several art-works and sculptures in the park and we walked around a bit before going back to the hotel.

The one large bed was now made into two – with about 1 1/2 inches between them, but with separate bedding so all was good. Again there was a small fridge so we stowed the food from the cooler (that was no longer cool) and had a light dinner.

Early night.

Slept really well up in my bunk, and woke to a beautiful sunny day. Had a large breakfast in the hotel’s ‘restaurant’ and hit the highway before 10:00. This day’s drive is about the same distance as yesterday’s but will take a few hours less to cover as we’re going on toll-motorways rather than lesser highways.

We went through the longest tunnel yet – the Tunnel de Frejus – 13 km and not cheap! When we came out the other side we were in Italy. Stopped at a rest-stop and had lunch – I had spaghetti carbonara and it was fairly good – the cheese on top was excellent.

As we drove east we saw smoke billowing into the air several miles ahead somewhere around Susa – it was so thick by the time we got there we could barely see the mountains, and the smell of fire was very strong.

We continued east, skirting Torino and went east a little north of Alessandria and on to Piacenza where we veered more southeast past Parma, then around Modena to our destination of Calderara di Reno, just a few km northwest of Bologna.

We checked in to the hotel, that luckily had a fridge for the food we’d brought, then went for a little drive northwest. Back at the hotel we had a bite to eat and didn’t stay up late.

 

Got all packed up and ready yesterday so I wouldn’t be rushed to go this morning. We managed to get on the road by 8:45 under a grey, but not raining sky.

The drive was long, but much easier (for Colin) in the BMW instead of the campervan. We headed east (north of Limoges), skirted around Bellac, then past Gueret before stopping for a coffee at Montlucon.

Next we went to Bourge en Bresse where we stopped mid-afternoon for another coffee. We passed beautiful fields and farms and went thru many lovely villages.

At one point Colin had mentioned that we might see some deer around the area, and literally just around the next bend we looked to our left and saw a whole field of them! Not kidding – dozens of deer munching grass right there – didn’t see them anywhere else but only in that one field.

The ‘tunnel de chat’ that goes through the mountains to the Lac de Bourget was closed for maintenance so all traffic was diverted over the very steep, narrow and twisting old road over the Col de Chat. Traffic was very heavy and there were several asshole-drivers coming toward us that tried to cut the corners and thus crept into our lane – there wasn’t room for that kind of crap and I was very impressed by the restraint Colin showed – I would have been blaring the horn full blast at some of them.

The drive down the other side afforded some beautiful vistas of the lake and the valley below with the Alps in the distance, but I didn’t get any good photos as there were always trees in the way or we were manoeuvring around another hairpin turn.

We found the town of Chambery alright but the GPS didn’t have the address of the motel in her database so we drove around a bit – almost thru the centre of the town, which looked ok but it was rush hour and the traffic was pretty heavy. We stopped at a Dominos Pizza (yes – they have them here too – it isn’t just McDonald’s everywhere) to ask for directions. The guy gave Colin very good directions (in French) and we had no problem finding our way to the motel.

I must say – it was pretty small, but clean enough. There was a double bed for Colin and the two doggies, and a single bunk-bed for me above them. The bathroom was so small one person could barely turn around in it, but it had everything you need, and there was a tv in the ‘main’ room but it didn’t work. It’s getting chillier as we approach the Alps.

 

 

Didn’t get much sleep – the crossing was rougher than when we came over but not as bad as I’d expected considering the storm that was forecast. We got a free breakfast because of the 3-hour delay in leaving. You get tokens for coffee or tea water and serve yourself from one of two machines. One machine had a short line-up so I went to the other that only had one fellow at it. He filled one cup, then another, then another – he was on his fifth one when the machine paused for a moment to re-heat and another fellow came up and gave the first guy 10 or 12 more tokens! I looked at him and said ‘you’re not serious!!’ He asked (with a heavy french accent) what I wanted and I told him just some hot water for tea so when the machine had restarted and he got his next hot drink he let me in so I could get my hot water.

We’d just finished eating when the ferry pulled into Dieppe around 6:45 (France time). It was still dark out, of course, so I still didn’t get a really good view of the place.

The drive home seemed very long, although the countryside was very pretty. I’m glad I wasn’t driving because I almost fell asleep several times with my head on the table in front of me. We stopped at Alencon for a very quick break – I was thinking of getting a pizza-type thing but couldn’t stand the thought of eating more white flour so settled for an iced-latte and some cut fresh veggies in the campervan.

We arrived back at Mansle just before 3:00 – a very long and tiring trip. Despite being so tired I didn’t want to have a nap in case I didn’t wake up in the middle of the night then not be able to get back to sleep, so I had a nice greek salad, then a shower to freshen up and revive myself.