Thursday 12 July 2012 - Touring with Francesco
Day 90 and 69 to go
The early morning sunlight
had us awake at 7 but we rolled over and continued to stay in bed waking again
at 8.30am and deciding we should get up and join Francesco downstairs. He was
able to take today and tomorrow off work to show us around which was great.
We ate breakfast then had a
shower before heading out at 10am. Today we were heading to San Marino another
country whose borders are inside Italy. It lies about an hour away from Forli
and sits atop a mountain, with many castles. Francesco took the motorway that
made the trip quicker. Once in San Marino we then had to find parking. It
proved a little challenging but we eventually found somewhere near the cable
car that we would take to the top of the mountain and into the old town.
We waited for the car to
arrive and then we made our way up. The view from the top was just incredible.
We could see out to the coast and on a very clear day you can see to Croatia.
We then wandered through the
old cities. There were many narrow roads winding up and down. We saw the palace
with the well dressed guards. They looked like Christmas ornaments. Our wander continued
past many old buildings mostly holding small shops to capture the tourists. I
picked up a shot glass, magnet and Christmas decoration to take away with me.
We stopped at a small
restaurant for lunch. We had the special, lasagne and a pork steak with chips.
It was another great meal. We then finished up in San Marino, returning to the
cable car and then the car at 1.45pm.
Francesco then wanted to take
us to Tavullia, the birthplace of Valentino Rossi. Unfortunately he was not
entirely sure of where to go and we ended up heading in the wrong direction.
After driving for an hour and a half we eventually found it. The town was
decorated with a lot of Rossi “46” numbers, particularly on streetlights.
Once located we made our way
back to Margherita’s home where we met up with Paola, Margherita and her two
children Daniello, 6 and Auroa 7 weeks. She was supposed to be born this coming
Saturday but instead was prem and is still so tiny, but she is doing well.
Margherita’s husband,
Massimiliano, came home soon after and we sat around chatting for a couple of
hours. It was great to get to spend some time with them all. Massimiliano is a
singer and guitarist in a band who specialise in American country. He sings
very well in English but does not know how to speak English.
At 6pm we had to say goodbye
and we made our way back home where we sat in the lounge under the fan, as it
was still quite warm.
We ate another delicious
dinner of cold meats and eggplant with super sweet rockmelon. Following dinner
I caught up on some of the computer things before Giulia and her husband Marco
arrived along with Andrea. Giulia speaks very good English and we were able to
communicate well together. Her husband speaks absolutely none. Andrea also
speaks good English. Our night was spent chatting then listening to Italian
before hearing translations from Giulia or Francesco.
By 10 we were saying goodbye
to everyone, as they had to work tomorrow. Paul and I retreated at 10.30. Glad
for an earlier night.
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