Catching up on the trip
Sorry for the delay -- we have been between internet access points and so are a little behind. Here's what's been going on and we'll post pictures later.
On Monday, we finished packing and then went over to say goodbyes at the school. Really nice people and it was hard to say goodbye. We then got a bus from Florence to Pisa but instead of getting on a plane to the US, we picked up an Avis rental car. A Fiat Chroma - pretty nice and all our luggage fit inside with enough room left for Alli.
We then headed south along the coast and then headed inland through Tuscany. Lots of stops for picture taking and enjoying the scenery. We rolled into Cortona, where we would spend Mon-Wed nights.
Cortona is a pretty town up on a hill in the southeast part of Tuscany. The first day there (Tuesday) we just explored around the townand relaxed. Our hotel was on the main street in town and was very nice.
The second day (Wednesday), we went to another small town, Montepulciano, which is in the middle of one of the famous winery areas. On our way through the town, we found a workshop for a coppersmith, and he was making something for a little boy, so we stayed to watch and listen. When he was done, he then made something for Alli. It was a lot of fun, and we understood a lot of the Italian. And of course we went to his shop and bought a few things.
On the way back to Cortona, we stop in a little lake town near the big lake, Trasiemo. We were walking down the street and commented on two Westies, and the owners ended up being from England, but had moved to Italy to build a house. We ended up sitting and talking to them for a while - it was very fun.
Thursday morning we packed up and headed out for our long driving day, from Cortona to Courmayeur, in the Italian Alps. We went around Florence, through Bologna, stopped in Modena to get some balsamico, under Milan and through Torino, past Aosta and finally into Courmayeur. It was cold and rainy there, but we had a great late dinner and the hotel there was very nice. The guy at the desk was a cross between Hector Elizando and Martin Short.
Friday we went up the cable cars to the top of the mountain next to Mount Blanc (Monte Bianco). The ride up was very smooth, and the weather was outstanding. We spend some time at the observatory at the top (it was too high for me, but the views were great), and then went about halfway down to the restaurant and hiking area. Had a great lunch and wandered all around.
Saturday, we went through the tunnel under Monte Bianco (11.6 km long) and came out in France. We stopped in Chaminoix for to see a open air market, and stopped at an internet cafe for our first check of email and such. We then drove north in France and crossed the border into Switzerland, where we had lunch next to a mountain pasture with cows.
From there we drove back towards Italy, and instead of going through the other tunnel to get back to Aosta, we drove up and over the mountains. More switchbacks that you can imagine. We stopped a the crest of the mountain and walked around for a while, and then went down the Italian side. The road on that side was under repair, but passable. We finally got into Aosta, on our way to San Remo, on the coast of the Mediterranean. More on that drive in the next post.
