We were off from Genova bright and early, and hit the motorway for our five hour drive to Bologna. The roads here are much busier than in Spain, with lots of wagons, none of whom seem to pay any attention to the speed limit! When you’re towing a caravan and a wagon overtakes you it creates a bit of a vortex, so that you’re momentarily dragged off course, and unless you’re aware all the time you veer into their lane which is a bit disconcerting for all concerned! Add to that they have a tendency to slipstream you until the very last minute before pulling out, and you can see how easy it is to be taken unawares!
Nevertheless the journey passed off uneventfully, and we even found time to listen to our download of the Archers Omnibus en route. How sad are we?
We travelled over the Apennines – we’d forgotten just how beautiful northern Italy is; rather than orange and olive trees, we’re seeing peaches, nectarines and cherries as well as olives. It’s also much more lush than Spain, more akin to spring in the UK.
We duly arrived at our site on the outskirts of Bologna – a very attractive setup with grass pitches, and loads of room. The temperature was a balmy 26 degrees when we arrived, so after we got everything sorted out (and we are getting very slick at pitching camp even though I say so myself) we had a quick explore of the surrounding area on the bikes. This unfortunately coincided with rush hour, and frankly cycling in Italy is not for the faint hearted, so we returned to base rather more quickly than we had planned.
The following morning we were on the 9 o’clock bus which picked us up at the campsite gate, and took us all the way into town, where we headed for the Piazza Maggiore, calling off at the San Pietro Cathedral on the way.
The big difference between attractions in Spain and Italy is that the Italians don’t charge you to go in and look around, whereas the Spanish charge for everything! Consequently we were able to amble in and out of most of the attractions without spending a cent. A very helpful young lady at Tourist Information had armed us with a map and a collection of leaflets in English, so we were able to conduct our own walking tour at our leisure, stopping off for coffees along the way.
Bologna has a very long history, and lots of old buildings to prove it. There are also lots of towers, and the porticoes (covered walkways to the ignorant, which included us!) have been nominated by Unesco as a world heritage site, so there was plenty for us to see, as the photos bear testament.
By lunchtime we were starting to flag a bit so opted for an early lunch at a randomly chosen pizza restaurant. It was very hot again, so we chose a shaded table outside and ordered. Whilst we were waiting for our food to arrive a few other diners drifted in, including a family of three, and a guy on his own who asked the waiter if they’d accept a voucher for food as he didn’t have any money. She explained that they wouldn’t take the voucher but would give him a coffee, so he sat and smoked, drank his coffee, and then quickly upped and left. Almost immediately the waitress asked the lady in the threesome on the next table to check her bag, as it had been left open over the back of the chair adjacent to where the guy had been sitting moments earlier. She immediately realised that her phone was missing. The waitress attempted to try and calm her, and offered to review their CCTV which showed the guy dipping into her bag and taking her iPhone 7. The restaurant duly called the police and the lady gave a statement over the phone, but the drama had been played out whilst we were tucking into our delicious pizzas! I think she was a bit naive leaving her phone on display like that in a busy city though. We just hope she got it back but I suspect that’s unlikely.
The following day we decided to take the bus back into Bologna but mid afternoon instead of first thing, so we could stick around to have some tea. The bus driver entertained us by trying to woo his ‘girlfriend’ who was a passenger seated behind us, and had obviously got the hump with him. However, his charms soon won her over and she moved to the front of the bus, but still continued to give him a hard time! Quite how we got into the city in one piece I’ll never know as his mind was elsewhere.
We started Tour Day II with the student area where the old theatre’s located, and then moved onto the Piazza Santo Stefano and into the ancient church complex which dates back in part to 393 A.D. Pretonius transformed the Roman temple into a Christian church around 450 A.D. It was then extended in the 8th century, and again in the 11th and 12th centuries. This was Karol’s favourite building in Bologna.
By this time it was early evening so we wandered around the Quadrilatero which is a series of narrow streets lined with mainly food shops and cafes and restaurants, adjacent to the Piazzo Maggiore. We stopped for a quick glass of wine at a food court, and then chose our restaurant for dinner. There was a great atmosphere, with loads of people about; really vibrant. Fishmongers, greengrocers, and delicatessens which doubled as restaurants were all in evidence, and it was at one of these that we chose to eat.
Whist there we struck up a conversation with a Belgian couple who had just flown in that day for a three day break. They spoke excellent English, and seemed very interested in our ‘tour’ as they were keen travellers themselves. She ran her own sewing machine business, dominated by Singer and Brother, just as they are in the UK!
On Friday we once again moved on to our final step in Italy, at least for now, to Tourette di Fano which is 50km shy of Ancona where our ferry leaves from on Monday. We were made very welcome at the site, Stella Maris, by Michaela, who said we could chose our own pitch, as there were very few guests staying. So we chose a pitch by the sea, and had the place pretty much to ourselves. The weather was glorious, so we had a walk on the beach, and sat out until it got dark. During the night there was a torrential thunderstorm!
The weather was still wet on Saturday, so after our Barcelona experience, we decided that we would do a recce of the port at Ancona. It’s about an hours drive from the site, on roads which would make Halfpenny Lane look like a new road. They don’t need speed bumps (although there are a few) as you’d be mad to go fast on these roads which are full of potholes. We’ll use the toll road on Monday!
Having expected the worst, the port is actually very well signposted so reassured, we retraced our steps to the site via the supermarket. The cost of living in Italy is definitely higher than in Spain – more like UK prices.
Karol has been reluctantly cutting my hair since we set off, using a set of barber’s clippers, a present from Mark and Lorraine. She’s got really good at it now, but it has been a bit of a learning curve for us both. The first attempt, way back in March in Lagos was too short, but that was my fault, as I’d insisted on having a number 4 cut all over. Karol’s in charge of choosing the length now, and the results are much better!
We tried the campsite restaurant on Saturday night, even though we’d heard the ‘entertainer’ doing a soundcheck earlier. The place filled up really quickly with locals, and once again the food was very good and reasonably priced. It became apparent that there was a private party in the next room, and by the time we staggered the 10 meters back to our caravan the party was in full swing and the music was thumping out. Our caravan was also surrounded by parked cars! We were expecting a disturbed night, but in fact we both slept really well probably as a result of the litre jug of red wine, and the complimentary limoncello.