Day 6 - Florence to Milan
Last night we enjoyed the most superb meal of the holiday so far. We found a place called Perseus a few minutes' walk from the hotel, which had a very encouraging queue of Italians outside. Inside we were treated to an enormous slab of beef, cooked really quite rare, and served with roast potatoes and a high-protein green salad (Ian found a caterpillar wriggling around in his portion - the waiter seemed to think it was a sign of freshness but gave us some free Limoncello anyhow). We washed the lump of cow down with two bottles of excellent wine.
This morning we rose far too early again, especially after Ian had spent most of the night roaming the room in his underpants to hunt down the plague of mosquitos that were attacking him in well-ordered droves. Simon and I suffered a few bites but they really took their revenge on Ian who has 16 bites, including 4 on his forehead.
After breakfast we wandered into the historic centre of Florence and hunted out the Duomo, the huge cathedral in the very middle. Even though it wasn't Sunday we felt the urge to go inside and dragged ourselves up the 490 steps to the very top of the dome. If there really was a god, he would have ensured they put a lift in the dratted building. After stepping over crowds of Americans passed out through exhaustion we enjoyed spectacular views across the whole city - pictures to follow when we have wifi for the official XJ3 laptop instead of a 286 with a dodgy keyboard in a hotel lobby.
We lunched on ice cream and panini before pointing the sat nav at Gattinara and driving the 250 miles to the north of Italy. We arrived at the Gattinara winery to discover that they expected us on the 27th of October, but the owner deigned to give us the tour anyway and took us round the fermenting room and cellars before kindly letting us try some of the finest wines and even more kindly letting us buy too much of them to take home. There is now no room in the Duchess for Simon's suitcase which now has to occupy the rear seat.
Speaking of the Duchess, we fear she is beginning to shut down more and more random electrical systems the further north we drive. The air con now works for 10 minutes(and 5 fuses) a day, one of the windows won't open and one won't shut, and the oil pressure gauge can't decide whether or not we have a problem. The rear wheel bearing is now louder than the engine, but on she plods for now - only another 1000 miles to St Ives.
We checked into our hotel on the Milanese outskirts and went for a cheapo pizza and beer. Early night now, ready to start exploring the city in the morning before the drive up into Switzerland. No mosquito hunting tonight, thanks to splashing out on a hotel with air conditioning. Luxury.
This morning we rose far too early again, especially after Ian had spent most of the night roaming the room in his underpants to hunt down the plague of mosquitos that were attacking him in well-ordered droves. Simon and I suffered a few bites but they really took their revenge on Ian who has 16 bites, including 4 on his forehead.
After breakfast we wandered into the historic centre of Florence and hunted out the Duomo, the huge cathedral in the very middle. Even though it wasn't Sunday we felt the urge to go inside and dragged ourselves up the 490 steps to the very top of the dome. If there really was a god, he would have ensured they put a lift in the dratted building. After stepping over crowds of Americans passed out through exhaustion we enjoyed spectacular views across the whole city - pictures to follow when we have wifi for the official XJ3 laptop instead of a 286 with a dodgy keyboard in a hotel lobby.
We lunched on ice cream and panini before pointing the sat nav at Gattinara and driving the 250 miles to the north of Italy. We arrived at the Gattinara winery to discover that they expected us on the 27th of October, but the owner deigned to give us the tour anyway and took us round the fermenting room and cellars before kindly letting us try some of the finest wines and even more kindly letting us buy too much of them to take home. There is now no room in the Duchess for Simon's suitcase which now has to occupy the rear seat.
Speaking of the Duchess, we fear she is beginning to shut down more and more random electrical systems the further north we drive. The air con now works for 10 minutes(and 5 fuses) a day, one of the windows won't open and one won't shut, and the oil pressure gauge can't decide whether or not we have a problem. The rear wheel bearing is now louder than the engine, but on she plods for now - only another 1000 miles to St Ives.
We checked into our hotel on the Milanese outskirts and went for a cheapo pizza and beer. Early night now, ready to start exploring the city in the morning before the drive up into Switzerland. No mosquito hunting tonight, thanks to splashing out on a hotel with air conditioning. Luxury.
posted by TeamXJ3 at 1:58 PM
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