Tuesday, August 30, 2016

The Italian Riviera

Never having seen a single cloud in the sky during our entire Italian sojourn, it came as a surprise to be wakened by torrential rain and a powerful thunderstorm in the night.  This morning was grey, overcast and cooler.  So we were oscillating as to whether we should tackle the traffic for the hour and a half drive down treacherous roads to the coast possibly to be rained out anyway, or to spend it closer to Alessandria possibly visiting Alba (famous for white truffles) or Asti (of Spumante fame).  Well, the title says it all, and we weren't disappointed.  The drive turned out to have lighter traffic than we've become used to, and the weather cooperated, even cleared a bit while staying warm.  We chose a little village called Noli (sometimes spelled Nuoli) which was just right, not too crowded since it's now the end of the season, and the tourists who were there were overwhelmingly Italians -- a good sign.  There were quite a few real estate offices, also a good sign.  Looks like you can buy an apartment for 200,000 euros here.  Here's a potpourri of images from our last full vacation day, since tomorrow we head back to Basel, then --finally-- Bochum.








Monday, August 29, 2016

Arrivederci Firenze

Our trip from Firenze to Alessandria took us through some high-ish mountains with some glimpses of the sea.  A traffic jam going around Genoa turned out to be due to the location of a pit stop gas station off the auto-route at a bad location.  We were stopped in a tunnel but not actually for very long, perhaps 15 min or so.



Here is our hotel outside of Alessandria. It's an old farm-house redone near a golf course.  Unfortunately, JI didn't realize that Expedia defaulted to the month in which the reservation was
made, hence we had a reservation for July 29-30, rather than Aug 29-30, so we arrived without a reservation.  BUT all was well and we got a room, though were charged a penalty of a night's cost from the 'no-show' in July.




The area here is very flat but feels comfortable, including the various cement factories and gravel pits that are in the area.






Went in to Alessandria for a bite to eat.  It's far from displaying the splendours that we've seen elsewhere but there are a few charming buildings.





The main goal here was to pay the Lucca parking ticket which we were told could be paid in any bank or post office.  There are tons of banks in downtown Alessandria -- in fact it seems like that's all there is.  Interesting to enter one.  You go person by person through a plexiglass vertical cylinder and give a fingerprint in order just to get in.  The process is repeated when you leave.  The bank staff were very helpful, but directed us instead to the post office which wasn't far.  Here's what the post office looks like.



Much ado followed while first a clerk was found who could speak French with us.  Again very helpful, but lots of paperwork it seemed for a simple parking ticket.  Richard's passport was also handed over in the process.  All, finally, went well, and as the clerk handed us the receipt of payment, he looked us ominously and said, "conservez bien".   We are not sure if we will actually escape from Italy in the end ...


Sunday, August 28, 2016

Siena

It was a straightforward drive south to Siena, another medieval walled city but this time, on a hill, requiring that we park below.  We thought that we would have to walk up 900 m along switchback roads but surprisingly came across -- yes -- an escalator which took us right to the top. Some of the escalators were not working so we took stairs until we realized that the escalators were motion activated!


You would think that we would be getting tired of looking at churches.  BUT this one in Siena was probably the most magnificent that we've seen anywhere, including France.  The outside is exquisite.










On the inside, every square inch, from ceiling to walls to floors, is covered with works of art.






Here are just some of the long line of sculptures of the various popes.


These next 5 pictures are from the church's library.





We then went out into the campo which is large open oval shaped area where 'anything goes' horse races occur twice per year.  However, we did see a rousing parade with drums as you'll see below.






The plan then was to leave Siena and go on a scenic drive to the south.  "Serena" let us down at that point, taking us perhaps 30 km or so in the wrong direction.  Okay, maybe we didn't put in the address properly.  We tried to get to Madonnino, but Serena allowed only Madonnina or Madonnina
Bivio.  We typed in the latter and our 'destination' turned out to be a farmhouse on a hilltop which we should have taken a picture of.  With some maneuvering, we finally made our way to Montalcino, a region rich in vineyards.  This region produces some of Italy's most prestigious wines (Brunelo di Montalcino).  Bob would have loved it.







As for today, we leave you with a mouthwatering treat.