November 1 – Tuesday - We are up fairly early, the boat is supposed to dock at 8:30, 9:30 Greek time, so we are up earlier than necessary. We go down for a coffee and leave J to sleep, he’s up by the time we return. Since they have food services on board, we decide to have breakfast. The boat docks at 10:15 and we’re on the road soon after. Today we are headed to Hotel Cosmopolitan in Bologna.
As we begin the drive, we are reminded of how temperate it is near Bari as we see crops growing that were planted recently. There are many fields full of lush green veggies still growing. Today we drive right up the east coast of Italy from Bari until Rimini and then head inland. It’s another lovely drive, seeing vineyards that have finished their yearly yield with leaves varying from maroon, red, orange and yellow. Some of the plants are tall and thin, some short and stout. In some cases, near Pescara and Ancona in the Abruzzo region, the leaf canopy of the vines were so thick with a mix of all those colors - beautiful!
After having driven over 600 km, we arrive in Bologna to Hotel Cosmopolitan for the night. We found a local pizzeria, not far from the hotel and had a wonderful meal. We savored our Italian fare! We have missed the wonderful food of Italy. With no English TV, we decide to watch the movie, Finding Forester before heading off to bed.
November 2 - Wednesday - We leave the hotel by 9:45 to head to Firenze for outlet shopping (been there in Sept. when we stayed in Salsomaggiore). T wants to get a pair of boots before leaving Italy. While T shops like a trooper, M and J shop for J and successfully find him some new walking shoes, and T finds herself a couple pair of great looking boots. With the shopping mission accomplished, we head onto Turin where we’ll stay for 3 nights.
The drive along the autostrada is busy with trucks and we pass through territory we’ve travelled and some new territory. We go from flat agricultural land to rolling hills with lots of trees. It is a pretty area. This city is slightly smaller than Calgary. There is the mix of old with new. We find our Novotel hotel quite easily. J finishes an assignment, and drive to a recommended local restaurant, La Medusa a ten-minute drive, but easy to find.
The restaurant is busy with locals when we arrive we enjoy a great dinner of pizza and J has a pasta dish. Pizza was one of the things we talked about wanting to have before leaving Italy once again, and J loves his Italian pasta.
November 3 - Thursday - M posts our Turkey blog and then J completes homework assignments in the AM. We have a bag to send home to Canada today because we are giving up our leased car on Friday before flying off to Egypt and traveling with the extra bag is not reasonable. We found a Mailbox Etc. depot and with the suggestion of the owner, sent our bag at a much cheaper rate than we anticipated. When we returned to the hotel, we found a little restaurant nearby. Open daily only for lunch, it’s full of workers from surrounding businesses. It’s good food and super prices - likely the cheapest we’ve had in Italy. All three of us are happy, full, and ready to catch the tram to the centro of Torino.
We pay for the tram when we find the officer onboard and look for the Girabaldi stop (about 20 min). Well, the stop is not announced, but we decide to get off after we pass the main train station that we know is past where we are headed. Armed with a map from the hotel, we try to find our way around the old part of Torino. The buildings are beautiful and many of them have arched covered walkways, allowing us to walk protected from the slight drizzle. The streets in the center are cobbled and many have tram tracks. We see a number of fountains and bronze statues honoring historic figures. We enjoy walking through several grand piazzas, virtually empty of tourists.
We are definitely in the low season - the drizzle doesn’t help any either. We wonder about, have a fabulous Italian cappuccino (another thing we have been missing), while J begins satisfying his fix of gelato.
We come across the Royal Palace, wander behind the castello and admire the architecture of the many wonderful buildings. Italy has so much incredible architecture to admire it’s a feast for the eyes! After wandering for a couple of hours, its time to head back to the hotel. We went to La Medusa for dinner again. We enjoyed it last night and there were more good things on the menu.
November 4 - Friday - We go downstairs for a cap to start the morning, while J sleeps in. It’s time to get caught up on some homework on-line assignments since we have great internet service at this hotel. We decide to go to the same next door restaurant for lunch - again, a good lunch. It’s raining heavier today, so we bring the umbrellas with us. Once again, we take the tram to the centro. We know where we want to get off today, and do so with ease.
We are headed to the Museum of Cinema, which is housed in the Turin landmark of Mole Antonelliana, built in the 1800’s originally as a synagogue, but the city of Turin bought it before it was finished to be a monument of the city. At the time it was built, it was the largest brick building in Europe.
Mole Antoneliana holds the national museum of cinema. Within this building is an elevator we took to the top of the building to have a panoramic view of the city. However, with today’s rain, the view is limited. We still get an appreciation for how well laid out this city is and the architecture style of the buildings in the old part of Turin. The elevator ride was great, it took us through the centre of the building and we had a great view of this awesome structure.
The museum was really neat. It actually had been the collection of one individual who collected all kinds of movie props etc. Within the museum, it also introduced us to the early methods of film making which was quite interesting. We could even recline on chairs and watch some old flicks shown on the walls.
An uneventful tram ride back and eventually went back to La Medusa, yet again, for another great dinner.
November 5 - Saturday - It continues to rain heavily today. While we were downstairs have our morning cap, we watched on TV the mayhem in Genova caused by flash floods. Earlier this week flooding occurred in Monterosso of Cinque Terre. Reports say it’ll change this popular tourist destination forever. We had just been there in June and were saddened by the news. The amount of mud and debris deposited in the narrow streets is immense. J completed a couple of science experiments in our hotel room before getting on the road. We are returning to Milan to drop off our Peugeot station wagon, our steady companion since June (look at the picture - can you tell which one was ours?)
As J said, “I’m going to miss this beast” and no wonder considering we put 13 000 km on the vehicle. Counting up the mileage that M has driven, its close to 22 000 km. We’ve been to a lot of places!
We have no problem finding the drop off place for our Peugeot and after 15 min of paperwork, we are finished that task and are on our way to the Sheraton Hotel at Malpensa airport. We explore the airport terminal to find the Egyptair for tomorrow’s flight and change some money into Egyptian pounds - $6 Can for 1 LE.
When we return to the hotel, J is engrossed in NCAA football, (he’s been missing his sports broadcasts) so we go to the gym and have a workout. After M returns from getting his haircut, we head down to the restaurant for our goodbye Italy dinner. It’ll be a while before we return to this country. We have had a fabulous time here. J expounds on the tremendous food the Italians make and have - we whole hardily agree.
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