A day in the mountains

Tuesday

6 August

Day 37

59 to go

Boomers 90 v Serbia 95 in OT :(

It was a warm evening but we managed. I spent the morning finishing off the photos for the past few days. Paul rang home and then we cleaned up and joined Francesco downstairs for breakfast. We chatted for a bit and then we organised our day. 

The first stop was to Luca and Chiara’s farm. Francesco took us on a tour and we enjoyed some of the grapes. We then joined Luca and Chiara for a coffee and a chat, while their eldest son, Mattia was playing video games. 

At 10.30am, we left them to return to work on the farm and we were heading for the mountains. The drive was very picturesque with many old towns and castles to behold along the way. 

San Benedetto was our destination which we reached by 1145am.

We parked at the entrance to the caravan park and then went in search of Masmilliano who was down by the river. He met us along the track and we followed the path to the riverbank. It looked so inviting, I wish I had brought my bathers. The water was so clear you could see the many fish swimming around. 

We followed followed the river around to a small waterfall and swimming hole. Again I wished I could take the plunge, however the hollers of a swimmer suggested it might be a bit cool. We finished our wander in the shade of the trees, returning to the campsite.

We stopped for a short while at Mas’s caravan, meeting the dog and then went for lunch at the onsite restaurant. Tagliatelle beef and mushroom ragout was ordered, as it is a local dish. It was delicious.

After our lunch, we spent the next couple of hours sitting outside the caravan resting and chatting, while trying to stay cool. It was starting to heat up.

Just before 4pm, we said goodbye to Mas and began our return to Forlí. We followed the curving road until we reached Castrocaro, where we stopped for a much needed gelato and a tour around the old town walls and the Castel, that was the holiday home of the Medici family of Florence. 

We completed a circle and once back at the car, we made the short drive back to Francesco’s home, arriving for 5.45pm.

We enjoyed a rest in his house for a while before thinking about getting ready for dinner. Gianluca and the family were collecting us for dinner at 8pm. It was good to have some downtime for a while. I checked through emails to find our train from Oslo to Bergen had been switched to a bus. This was not going to work, so I began looking for alternatives.

Soon after, Luca arrived with the family and we boarded his minivan and drove to Bertinoro, a town perched on top of mountain. The drive was only 30min and as we reached the town we began winding through tiny, cobblestone streets until we found parking. 

We made our way towards the restaurant, stopping to take in the view of Forli and beyond. Night was almost upon us and and the pink sky was beginning to make way for twinkling lights. We entered the restaurant, Osteria, via a spiral staircase to a lower level and then out onto the terrace. It was a lovely evening for sitting outside.

We ordered our meals, I chose mine based upon the fact it had my name in it. It was a fabulous choice, though everyone’s meals looked delicious. It was a very late meal for us, 9.45am, but we enjoyed it very much.

By 10.45pm, we were all done. We made our way to the car, stopping again to admire the view, now veiled in twinkling lights. Luca made the short trip back dropping us home. They looked tired after a long day working on the farm and tomorrow they will be up for 5am. Once we were in the house, we were straight to bed.