Another day, another few hundred kilometres…
We left Genoa this morning, heading toward Pisa and finally Florence. Pisa was only about 100 miles by Autostrade and Florence wasn't all that much further. Easy day, no? …not so much.
We did have all day… Rather than take the easy way, we decided to take the surface streets through all of the towns in between us and Pisa. Wise choice. Pisa is in the same direction as La Spezia that we stopped short of yesterday. Well, we didn't see it today either but we drove through most of the cities that we blasted by on the train, yesterday.
Oh my, amazing, those towns we didn't see much of yesterday. Roads were tons of fun too. Some of the roads would be little more than sidewalks in the U.S. The towns as I have mentioned, are sitting between mountainous outcroppings. The train goes through those outcroppings where the road follows the rugged contour, just barely cut into the hillside. Slow, but one of the most scenic and fun drives we have ever taken. Note: Need to do this same route on a motorcycle some day.
On the Autostrade the drive would have taken short of an hour and one half. We spent about 5-1/2 hours driving, including giving up driving the twisties and heading to the Autostrade about 2:00ish in the afternoon so we could actually reach the destinations we have planned.
About 1:30 we began to get a little hungry for some lunch. The thought was to find a small market and get some bread, cheese and some of that marvellous salami they make. We could have a bite while we traveled! No market was obvious on the main street through the towns until we saw a sign for a "super market" (in Italian of course). We stepped one foot inside when a very determined lady excitedly rattled off something to the effect: "getta you ass outa here, we closed for lunch. We open at 4:00." Our mistake. Italy does close down from about 1:00-4:00 for their lunch break. Luckily, some restaurants remain open.
A couple of towns down, we found a great place, right on the ocean. A caprese salad and a seafood medially were perfect.
Firsts scheduled stop was in Pisa to see the Museo de Piaggio. Piaggio manufactures trucks and both Piaggio scooters and Aprilla motorcycles. Piaggio has been around for years. It would have been interesting to see…. The GPS did do its job well but once we reached the address, we couldn't find the museum. Although we did ask someone, and received excellent directions in "full-speed Italian", we failed to find the sign. That is, until we had given up and were stuck on a parkway without a means to turn around. Oh well, this one wasn't a big deal and we might have time to come back later anyway. On to Florence!
We took an easy route to Firenze. Average speed was just over 80, pacing traffic. Once we descended into town, we found the familiar congestion. Amazing how well all of this works. I think every person, at least in the Seattle area, should be required to spend a month, in rush hour, in a typical sized Italian city before they can earn their drivers license.
When congestion happens, which is all the time, no one sits there with a stupid look on their face, waiting for traffic to clear. Intuitively, they find a path around, then proceed on their way. No one gets excited unless you stop and don't go around or otherwise block someone's progress. That is, unless you double park almost anywhere and apply the emergency flashers. Let us not forget too, that while all of this is taking place, scooters are passing you left, right and virtually over the top, from both directions, simultaneously. Pedestrians as well. Crossing streets without notice. You better not hit one! Pandemonium that somehow flows beautifully. Keeps you busy but makes you keep your eyes open too…. I rather enjoy it.
We arrived at our first B&B. Oddly with B but not Breakfast. Oh well. Charming lady (Emily) owns the place. They do have limited parking available. First time I have ever parked a car in a garage (single car, not commercial parking garage type).
We have booked what should be a pretty nice cooking class tomorrow. Navigating the thousands of streets, especially in a city of this size can be, no, IS a challenge. We thought that since we were planning on walking there tomorrow anyway, it would be a good idea to familiarise ourselves by going to the meeting spot tonight.
Piece of cake! Got there without a hitch and only about 15 minutes away. By now it was getting pretty thirsty out. As tonight's goals had been met, we headed to a pub. In this particular case, an Irish Pub just outside the Piazza. WC Soccer was on again so we helped the other patrons cheer on Argentina.
Had steak for dinner tonight. Not bad. It was advertised on a reader board we saw, walking back. Our waiter spoke Spanish and English very well. Probably other languages too. I know more Spanish than Italian, so we had a little fun in Spanish.
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