Florence to Forli

Wednesday 11 July 2012  - Italy

Day 89 and 70 to go

With a better night’s sleep we were awake at 8 and ready to get the day underway. Paul went for a shower while I cleaned up the van and ate breakfast. Once I was showered and done we were ready to get moving once again. We checked out at reception at 9.30am and made our way towards the camping ground near Mugello. It was not a long journey but there were some more narrow windy roads to navigate.

At 10.15 we arrived at the campsite and enquired about booking a space for Saturday only to be told they don’t book in advance. We returned to the van being followed by another lady who in very broken English offered us a place to park our van close to the track. I had her put the address into the GPS before we thanked her for her help and navigated a further 10km down the road to where we are to collect our tickets for the race on Saturday.

We found a place to park near a giant sunflower field. We took a few photos of the sea of yellow faces before driving closer to the ticket collection point.

We wandered around the small shopping area before we located the spot being set up for ticket collection. We checked with the people setting up and again they were very helpful even giving Paul an event poster. He was like a Cheshire cat afterwards.

We returned to the van and navigated to the track a further 5km away. There was much going on with the set up of the track and many trucks arriving. With that located we moved on to the address the lady had given us 1 km away from the track. It was a tight road and we clipped another car on the way. That poor mirror! It cops a bashing but always comes away looking good.

We returned to central Sengaria where we did a grocery shop and then had lunch in the van. There were many people going by with various Motogp paraphernalia attached to their cars.

At midday we set the GPS to Francesco and Paola’s home, a 2 hour drive and 110km away. We knew that we would be in for an interesting drive again.

The roads wound through the mountain towns. Twisting and turning, but they were better roads that the Alpine pass so it was not as difficult on Paul this time.

We passed many interesting buildings, fields and a very large dam. The views from the mountains back over the lands below were beautiful and it was wonderful to be able to take it all in with a little less stress.

At 1.50pm we stopped in a small town for a drink and quick stretch of the legs before continuing the final 20min to Francesco’s.  We were directed to a small town and onto their street, but Paul did not recognise it, so we decided we would try to locate Luca and Chiara’s home another 30min away.

We skirted around the main city of Forli on new roads and then to outer suburbia, where there were more farming lots. Thankfully the GPS directed us in the right direction and we pulled up in Chiara and Luca’s driveway.

We were met warmly by them both. It was so great to see them. We went inside and had a drink while chatting before Luca suggested we might like a swim in the pool. As it was warm we appreciated the suggestion and went to get changed.

Chiara then showed us her small shop where they sell their organic vegetables and fruit and her industrial kitchen where she makes juices, jams and preserves. She was busy making apricot jam with 50kg of apricots. Luca then showed off his motorbike to Paul. He doesn’t get the time to ride it anymore and its dust cover was covered in dust.

We then went for a swim in the pool. It was so refreshing and just what we needed to relax after our drive. After our swim Luca gave us some of his preserves and vegetables to have in the van. YUM.

At 4pm we said goodbye as they were heading to the market to sell their veges. We drove back to Francesco’s 20min later we pulled in and parked then went for a walk to try and find their home. We walked the block first and then went down a different street finally heading in the right direction.

We collected the van and then drove to the front of the house. As we got out of the can we were met by Paola, heading to the shop. Francesco was inside the house as he had come home early from work.

We sat around having a chat and catching up. Paola returned form the shop and made dinner. Francesco fed the three dogs who were looking longingly inside at us and were most put out when they saw the cat parading around inside.

We ate a delicious dinner together and then at 8.15pm we were taken back to Luca and Chiara’s. We sat outside where we were eaten alive by mozzies before we put the citronella candles out and the repellent on.

We met Mattia who will be 4 in September. He is a little live wire who loves all mechanical things and watching Motogp crashes on Youtube. His favourite rider is Casey Stoner, so we talked to him about seeing him on Sunday in Mugello.

We enjoyed some of the strawberry juice Chiara has made from their strawberries. It was yummy. We also enjoyed a bowl of gelato.

At 11.15pm we had to say goodbye. It was so wonderful to have been able to spend some more time with them all. Francesco drove us home and at midnight we had grabbed the things we needed from the van and made our selves comfortable in the top room of their house where is was some what cooler and better for sleeping, just what we needed.

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