Sleep in until about 5am, can’t sleep, read a little, get ordered to go to sleep by The Navigator, that works. F…g miracle, she can fix electric faults and put people to sleep, what a versatile woman she is.

I do get up at about 8, refreshed from my enforced sleep, and have a very good in house breafast of fruit, muelsi, yogurt and a cup of good Italian coffee from the pod machine, I’d like some of this coffee back home, strong, smooth and lots of flavour,

Its clear but threatening rain when we walk to the bridge and over into the town proper. First job is the Victorinox shop to get a new band on The Navigators expensive Victorinox watch she bought in Luzern many years ago. She hardly wears it because the Apple watch has a phone, can’t do without a phone can we? The Victorinox watch people, except for one buggerise around and can’t get the band on, it cost a bit as all Victorinox stuff does so they better have if on right, the old band was perished and was about to give way so it needed to be done.

Next stop is through the Luzern shopping centre up to the Lion Monument, its a sculture in the face of a cliff designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen and carved in 1821 by Lukas Ahorn to commemorate the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution defending the King of France when the revoltionaries stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris. Its pretty big being 10 metres long and 6 metres high. 760 guards were killed and 350 survived. Its a bit of a political football still.

Next stop is a shop where we buy our travel momento for the shelf where we put something from each trip, this time its a multi coloured ceramic Swiss cow. Don’t ask me the colours, theres lots of them and they are bright and some blend together for me,

Its starting to rain, next stop is a shop Genelle and I have been to before, I buy a Swiss watch, so does Liz, not expensive but good quality. Paul and Liz head to the Mechanical Museum which is around the lakes edge quite a way but the heavy rain causes them to abandon the walk, meanwhile Genelle and I case out the C&A shop where I actually buy 2 pieces of clothing. Yes folks, C&A is not an op shop, nor a Thai tailor so this is a rare event. Genelle continues shopping, its hard work but somebody has to do it. I buy a book to read, then wander the streets, a foot massage looks inviting so I indulge (too much time in Thailand!).

Overall a pretty quiet day, a restful day ready for a heavy day of travel tomorrow on trains. Luzern to Basel, change, Basel to Strassbourg, change, Strassbourg to Paris, change, Paris to Arras, stay. Next day a Somme battlefield tour, then England.

Dinner is a restaurant by the water, a lovely spot, good food, expensive but good. A good way to end our Swiss journey.

Ciao, Guten Abend from Luzern (or Lucerne) Switzerland

I said in an earlier post that revenge is a dessert best served cold. I probably got what I deserved last night, the bathroom light wouldn’t turn on for me, I tried and tried, the electrician tried, we came up with a Plan B and The Navigator just walks in pushes the button and it works, no comment just the look. I’m humbled and feel defeated. And it still works this morning!

Early start today, 5am out of bed, breakfast, walk in the dark to the Luzern train station to get the 6:05 Interlaken Express which takes 2 hours but actually the main train station is Interlaken Ost (East). Then we catch another train to Grunewald where the cable car starts up the mountain – TIP the Grunweald stop for the cable car is actually Grunewald Terminal, we lose Paul for a moment but he’s just visited the boys room, phew. He’s still not 100% well, and the Jubgfraujoch was one thing he really wanted to do, yesterday we took the punt on a window in the weather at the top of the mountain and we have our fingers crossed that Mother Nature is on our side.

The cable car up the mountain to where we catch the cog railway almost to the top of the mountain is a fantastic ride, the views are spectactular and as we get up further we see the snow line and it gets whiter and whiter, We”re all excited but none more than Liz who has never seen or touched snow before.

Now the education bit, if you don’t like the background stuff skip forward to where it might get more interesting, or more boring – depends on how tired I am. The jungfraujoch is a saddle connecting major peaks of the Bernese Alps, The Jungfrau and the Monch. Height is 3463 metres, but, The Eiger is 3967 metres its the peak that we are at, not right at the top but close. The Eiger is a challenge for climbers the world over and is one of the 6 classic North faces on the globe for climbers. They can have it, I can hardly walk up the path let alone climb in the freezing ice and snow. The Swiss have done a fantastic job getting access to this area, the staff are super helpful, everything is efficient, clean and works. The only problem we have is the clarity of the instructions on where to go, but we work it out, at least the Navigator does with her linguistic skills which involve hand waving and talking a lot and at a higher volume. She’s assisted by Liz who has now become an apprentice Navigator, she had a small test this afternoon and had to be coached into finding the apartment under pressure when are tired after a long day, BUT, she is improving.

So the punt came off, the weather at the top is unbelievably clear, the sun comes out, the view down the glacier is spectacular and then we get out into the real snow and ice. It must have snowed last night as there is a nice thick layer of powder snow on top of crunchy icey snow. Genelle and Liz lay down in the snow and do the star burst thing, juvenile behaviour but snow does that to Genelle. Once many years ago, just after we were married, she came home from doing pottery (yes readers – she was a potter – who’d a thunk it!) and it had just started snowing and demanded we go for a drive in the snow. The old Torana slipped and slid and we nearly died, f….k the snow I say. She has a whinge that her hands are cold, well they would be when you are rolling up snow and throwing at me and others. She encourages Liz to roll up a solid snow ball, she hasn’t quite mastered snow balls yet (But Paul has I think – he’s a bit chilly ) but she manages to ht me up the side of the head with a chuck of icey snow that momentarily stunned me. I think the problem is she’s not feeling well, she’s not herself, she has the wobbles, is light headed, we’re 13,400 feet high and oxygen deprivation has taken its toll. You can’t talk, throw snow balls, give orders and fend off pesky tourists without enough oxygen.

We find the ice cave and post a postcard to a small person in Cobar from the highest point in Europe, at least thats what they say on the wall at the to point of the Eiger.

We went up via Grunelwald and we came back to the bottom via the cog railway via Lauterbrunnen. The train trip is stunning, as we wind our way down from 13,000 feet, there are avalance barriers, huge valleys underneath sheer cliffs hundreds of feet high. The scenery is so much more stunning and the experience so much better that the Pilatus experience, if you have the opportunity to do one then do Jungfraujoch, its a bit more expensive but so much better

There wasn’t a huge crowd because the forecast was crap for the afternoon, but there were lots of Japanese and Thai tourists as well as Germans and Americans. Funny seeing Thai tourists, they were having a ball, guess they wouldn’t see much snow, less than us I suppose, and the Japanese crowd, despite being so gentle and friendly at home push and shove their way through lines and annoy a lot of people. Bit of a contradiction but thats how I saw it today.

The train home is quiet, except for the snoring from the sleepers, Liz snorts so loudly she nearly sets off the train alarm, if there had been curtains there she would have inhaled them and Genelle nearly trips the conductor 3 times with her legs over the aisle. Paul and I quietly enjoy the trip home. We’re home at 5pm, Liz is given the job of navigating home, a little hesitation but she gets us there with a little help.

Its been a long day so Cheers from Luzern for today – Pauolo

Today is Sunday 25th September. We’re having sleep in, we’re not leaving for Mt Pilatus until 8am, but the signs aren’t good outside, its drizzling rain and about 8deg C. The Navigator sprint/walks to the train station afraid a) that I’ll get lost b) we’ll be late for ferry and c) Option a) and b) which means I’ll really be in the gun. Its helpful that I actually know where I’m going, despite the commentary from the side suggesting otherwise from the real Navigator. This is proven later in the day when we are walking home and Genelle and Liz would have turned left and ended up back at Mt Pilatus rather than right to our apartment, but I say nothing, discretion means I might live another day. Normally I’d make a point but today isn’t the day, the glare in her eyes early in the day tells me that I need to be very careful.

First job is finding out what wharf our boat to the cog railway leaves from, initially we are told 5 but then its changed to 2. We chat to an elderly couple from San Franciso who look to be in their mid late 70’s and still doing interesting travel, good on them I say. We board our ferrym there are a lot of Asian’s, not sure where from but the language sounds Chinese so maybe Taiwan or Korea, not sure, and Americans. Lots of Americans, one woman shoved her hands in the toilet hand dryer above The Navigators at Mt Pilatus, its a wonder she still has a straight nose and all her limbs pulling that stunt – she clearly missed the signals.

Its pissing down rain as we wind around Lake Luzern towards the starting point of the cog railway up Mt Pilatus. Mt Pilatus cog railway was opened in 1889, at 48 degrees incline its still the steepest cog railway in the world taking about 30 minutes to get from the ferry at Alpnachstad to Pilatus Kulm (the top). The ride up the railway is safe but anyone who struggles with heights might have a bit of anxiety when you look down, it rises up to a bit above 7,000 feet. The location and the gondola ride down the other side were used in a James Bond film On Her Majesties Secret Service, its also a Swiss military base as well as tourist destination.

When we get up the top the clouds sort of clear, we can see over Lake Lucerne and Lucerne itself but clouds keep rolling in. There is no ice or snow up there so Liz is a little disappointed, she still hasn’t experienced snow but that might happen tomorrow when we go to the Jungfraujoc which is 11,500 feet high. The views are spectacular, we are so high.

A sandwich we made does for lunch, then the cable car ride back down the bottom. Its spectacular, with a small change in the middle. At the bottom of the mountain we walk for about 10 minutes to get the bus back to the Lucerne train station.

Before we walk home, or Pt Pilatus if certain people had their way, we go to the Swiss Railway travel office, we were told they are excellent and this proves to be correct, they sort out tomorrows trip to Jungfraujoc which involves 2 trains, a cog railway and cable cars and as well as that they change our train frm Lucerne to Basel on Wednesday to a more civilised leaving time from 5:30am to about 7:00am, a job well done.

There is a little shopping for dinner at the COOP supermarket in the train station before the walk home which could have been awkward if we’d taken Genelle (The Navigator) and Liz’s direction, but never mind all is good, no points to be scored, or is there?

Dinner is in house, pork and chicken, salad, a beer and a cup of tea.

Guten Abend from Luzern, Switzerland – Pauolo

5.30am start, Genelle is well again, just feeling a bit doughy, probably the drugs she took to kill the migraine.

6.30am we’re out of the hotel, bag wheels clatter on the cobblestones, echoing in the almost empty dark street.

Florence SMN train station is quiet, you can actually get a seat while waiting for your platform to come up on the board. Soon enough our train to Milano is on the board and we load up, walk, board the train, lift bags and sit in our seats. The two hours to Milan at up to 300 kmh, passes pretty quickly, the country is farming, looks like productive country, no spectacular scenery or villas to stay in.

We’re not in Milano Central, we’re in one before it called Milano Porta Garibaldi where we change trains to Lucerne, a one hour wait. Not an attractive place, we’re a bit edgy and tired and maybe we just want to get on last leg into Switzerland.

The scenery gets more interesting after Monza, Lake Como, Lake Lugarno, the mountains, lush paddocks with actual cattle eating real grass. The mountains are getting bigger, more grass, more cows and the odd sheep in drizzling rain. Its a Swiss train so we arrive in Luzern spot on time. The Navigator is debating whether to taxi to our apartment or walk, she cant decide but I can tell she wants to take a taxi so I say lets walk. Luckily she’s agreeable and its only a 10 minute walk past the bridge up a few streets, our host is waiting in the carpark which looks a bit mingy but the apartment is lovely, 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, a living room, warm cosy, modern, clean, we picked a winner I reckon. Our host gives us a lot of tips on local living, top marks for the intro and friendly guidance.

We gather ourselves after the long train trip, shopping at Aldi is next, we spend 80 swiss franks (1SF = $1.56 AUD, about the same as Euro’s), a few nibbles, lagers, breakfasts, dinners, the women get some fruit and some bread from the bakery downstairs. Its a local neighbourhoood where we are located, on the edge of “old ” Luzern, our address is Kasimir-Pfyffer- Strasse 2, Luzern. There are funky shops in the streets, bakeries, barbers, 2nd hand shops and others that will temp a world class shoper like the Navigator.

Dinner tonight is in house, a few 59c lagers from Aldi, a chicken dish and salad for dinner is planned and a good sleep before we attack the cog railway up to Mount Pilatus tomorrow then we now have a plan for the/ Jung Frau on Monday, Tuesday will be rest and shopping day, before we head to France on Wednesday.

So for 4 days the following is translating basics for Swiss German ;

Goodbye = Auf Wiedersehen, Entrance = Eingang, Exit = Ausfart, Good Morning = Guten Morgen, Good Evening= Guten Abend, piss off = Verpiss Dich (same as for f…. off), Thankyou = Danker, toilet = toilette, pretty easy for a multi linguist like Il Maestro who we’ve been travelling with in the south and Tuscany, but now he’s in Sardinia and not with us, we’ll do the best we can.

So Guten Abend from Luzern, Switzerland tonight – Pauolo

5.30am rise, for a 6.30am transfer with Enzo to Camuchia – Cortona train station. Enzo arrives early in the black Mercedes van, we arrive at the train early so coffee and croissants are procured at the train station canteen. It’s cool, dark , and there are others waiting. A few trains whizz through the station not stopping, they are at pace. Our 7:02am train arrives on time, we get seats and then snooze until Florence.

Florence is warmer, but not hot, not yet anyway. A short walk from the Florence SMN train station to the Hotel Globus where we check in drop our bags, drop the bags as we can’t check in yet, its only 9:30am, then walk back the train station, buy tickets to Pisa.

Lets just say that Pisa is about 4 hours of my life I’ll never get back. I can’t say I enjoyed it, maybe I did for about 5 minutes of looking at the tower and the cathedral from the outside as we didn’t have enough time to get tickets to go inside the cathedral and take a 12:30 slot available, its free but you have to book.

The history is roughly; Tower of Pisa is more accurately referred to simply as the bell tower, or campanile. Building commenced in about 1175 and continued for about 200 years due to the onset of a series of wars. Till today, the name of the architect is a mystery. Good thing because it appears he buggered it up a bit, didn’t do his soil testing and undercooked the footing a bit because the 185 foot tower is a bit over 5 metres off the vertical, its also a bit bent due to attempts to straighten it.

The Pisa tower is one of the four buildings that make up the cathedral complex in Pisa, Italy, called Campo dei Miracoli or Piazza dei Miracoli, which means Field of Miracles. To be fair the building are beautiful white marble and inside the cathedral looks stunning with a gold or bronze ceiling.

Take a step back, we got off the train, The Navigator turned left, we should have turned right, then back tracked through the tunnel to the correct side of the station, then walking with Google mapped we made our way with a gazzilion other tourists for 25 minutes to the tower and cathedral. Our return train to Florence is at 1pm, so after a cursory look, the obligatory photos pretending to hold up the tower we walk back through the ugly grubby streets, over the Arno river towards the train station. A quick food stop is abandoned when we think we’ll miss the train back to Florence. Hot tip – don’t miss the train out of Pisa, except for the tower and cathedral (book a free ticket at the office over behind the tower first thing when you arrive – it looks worth seeing), everything looks dirty, unattractive and largely unappealing.

Back in Florence we have a lunch near the train station, rest for 30 minutes, then hit the cobblestones and do the cooks tour of Florence for Paul, the Duomo, Santa Croche (inside ), Palazzo vechio sculptures, walk through the bottom of the Uffizi, over the Ponte Vechio, and back via the Piazza where the carousel is. Florence is a beautiful city, easily walkable, and so many things to see and do and so many food options to choose from. You need at least 3-5 days to get a good go at it really. The Navigator has picked up a migraine due to lack of food and too much walking so retires to the room to lighten the drug stash in her bag. Paul, Liz and I head to a nice restaurant around the corner from the hotel for dinner. The drugs obviously work because I can’t wake the Navigator when I knock on the door, so I head to reception and chat with the nice receptionist who is a music fan, we talk about blues and roots music then she gives me a spare key to the room.

A long day, ciao from Italy for the last time this trip – Pauolo

We’re the first ones in the breakfast room, its not full of German travellers today, the view hasn’t improved on yesterday but it probably couldn’t really. Anyway, we get first chop at the croissants, first cappuchino’s and a monopoly on the view until some American’s turn up. They look at us strangly when we say “gooday”, and we get no response, they must think we’re Russians, dunno?

The plan is to head out of Tuscany into Umbrian, the border is only a few k’s away but I’m trying to make it sound a little sexy so give me a bit of lattitude. I’ve got used to driving the little Renault Clio, its auto (my demand to the Navigator if I’m to drive (and a good demand that was), its four door despite what I initially thought, its diesel, and turns and accelerates quickly, good for getting out of trouble.

The drive cross into Umbria is very interesting, through villages, around the edge of Lago Tresimeno where its industrial and mostly not as ancient as the tourist areas, but still interesting. First stop is Panicale. The reason we came here is because many years ago friend of ours, no names mentioned (Dave & Ali) stayed here with their children Eleanor and Tim for some time and they were the ones who recommended we stay at Cortona the next year when we were coming to Italy, and we thought a return visit to Panicale would be interesting to see how it looks now. Well, It hasn’t changed much at all, the cafe/ restaurant was in the hands of some younger people but the place is drop dead beautiful, quiet, hardly any tourists (maybe 5-6 other than us), neat, seems friendly. I could be tempted to spend time here, if I could or was allowed to.

The next port of call is Castiglione del Lago (castle on the lake or soemthing like that) somewhere we haven’t been before. I make a small navigation error but its inconsequential as the town is small, find a nice park and we wander here for some time. Its a pretty town, The Navigator buys a few things, checks out the jewellery she can’t afford, we skip lunch thinking we’ll have some when we get back to Cortona. Its really worth stopping here. Its right on the lake, lots of nice shops, good restaurants, and looks like a slow pace.

The drive back up the hill to Cortona is via a narrow road, often close to the edge of the road, a little stress when we end up in via Nationale but a quick left 160 degree turn gets me out of it down the hill and on to the road up the mountain to Santa Margherita. Its a beautiful church, blue blue with Saint Margaret there in her glass coffin looking a bit off. Next stop is back down the hill to the cemetery, its kept immaculately, and almost every grave has a photo of the occupier – I think its a great idea. Enough of dead people, we then fill up with diesel, 40 euros, not bad for 4 days and lots of km’s I think.

Lunch is not lunch, not even a late lunch, its a drink and some pastries, we’re in the food twilight zone between lunch and dinner so we’re lucky to get anything.

We pick up some art prints, The Navigator goes shopping and I go to hand over the car while Paul and Liz have a look at the museum (they were impressed). The lovely Laura checks the car, takes the keys then loses them in her bag, sounds like The Navigator (I wonder if she spills food down her front as well?), then proceeds to ask how we enjoyed Cortona, where we went, how Allister and Jaquie enjoyed it and their driving, she enquired about Australia, where the wine regions were etc etc until The Navigator calls wanting to know where the f… I was. Oh the bloody Laura, she distracted me.

In the middle of this we run into Ian Dixon (the former Orange City master of the dark arts of forward play) and Deb in Piazza Signorelli, a final chew of the fat, remember old times and other important stuff, he tries hard to convince Deb to drive to the top of the hill but she has none of it, walking is her only option and it appears its now his only option.

Dinner tonight is at Teatro Signorilli in the Piazza Signorelli, The building started as a church in the 1400’s or earlier, then they tried to fix a bottleneck for horses and carts where the piazza links with via Dardano and knocked down what I think were grain storeage buildings ( I might have that wrong). The resaturant was recommended by the artist who we bought the prints from (the Englishes know who he is). Mamma and a young 20ish girl run the place, the food is home style food, delicious except for The Navigator’s veal dish which she felt wasn’t up to the standard she now expects of her Italian cuisine.

A great day, we saw a lot, had a nice dinner and tomorrow we head into Florence for one night before we head to Switzerland when I think the rain starts and the weather gets colder.

Ciao for now from Cortona for the last time this trip – Pauolo

Breakfast upstairs at the 4th level of the Hotel Italia has a stunning view over Lago Tresimeno and the valley looking south. The breakfast is ok too, cappuchino, warm tasty croissants, fresh fruit, cereal, tea, a cosy room that you could sit in all day. But we can’t, the Navigator insists we must move on.

The little Renault fires first start, and with only a few minor driver errors we’re heading to Pienza for the morning. The country, the creamy clay looking soil, has been ploughed up ready for winter crop planting, grapes are being picked, the recent rain has greened up the country and the pencil pines follow roads up to villas sitting on Tuscan hills. Bit hard to take really!

Pienza is our first stop, what a beautiful village, smaller than Cortona, not a big hill, it would be a nice spot to stay but closest train stop is Chiusi so you then would have to catch a bus or hire a car to get there. The markets are on, food, groceries, clothes , and wait for it, hand f….g bags, the Navigator appears nonchalant but underneath I know she finds pleasure in just looking at handbags and shoes. There is a walk around the town wall which overlooks the surrounding Tuscan countryside, just like the postcards and paintings show, but it’s real and right in front of you.

We find the little Renault and head for Montepulciano, a larger hill town not far away. The grapes are being picked in the vineyards, tractors with bins full of juicy purple ( I think) grapes heading for crushing slow traffic down a bit. A white Merc sits so close behind me I can see the whites of his eyes, I’m doing 15 k over the limit, and he’d be doing 40 to 50 k’s over when he overtakes me. Obviously the speed limit is arbitrary, a flexible think like a lot of things are on the Italian roads.

Montepulciano is busy busy busy, the car parks are full. I have to do a three point u turn at the gates to get back out of a situation I shouldn’t have been in. Eventually I get a park in carport 7, the Navigator wanted to get closer so things are tense for a short time while I recover from the stress of driving in Italy and she gets over having to walk a bit further than she planned.

Montepulciano is not a highlight but ok, some others think a little less of the place. But, it needs more time than we give it I think.

It’s  lovely drive through the backroads to Cortona, we need a break before our cooking class tonight.

We are doing a Tuscan Pld Recipe cooking course then eating it with Fattoria Bistecca   It’s run by Lapo and Ilaria who teach cooking and cheese production and other things. Ilaria is a force. We cook a meat ball and stuffed tomato  thingy entree, a pork and panchetta main with roast veggies and doughnut biscuits and dessert wine. Delicious.

We cruise back to Cortona in 2 black Mercedes vans, like a CIA operation, alight in the Piazza for a photo shot on the Cortona town hall steps. It’s been a great night.

Tomorrow there are some heading to Sardinia, some to Croatia and we’re staying one more day then heading to Switzerland, France and the UK.

Ciao for today – Pauolo

An early start again, we’re out the door at 8, 3 croissants from the kitchen, heading to the carpet for the first drive down to the train station. The Navigator has a real navigation job, my job is driver, Liz can comment from the back seat as long as she doesn’t criticise me. The Navigator had one job, one f….g job, and things don’t start well when she sends down a dry gully, however a quick three point turn with a truck up my arse causes a little bit of tension. Anyway, we’re back on track, then we’re off track then we’re back on and by some miracle we find a park in the train station car park, run to the platform where the others are waiting. L’agente has sent the train tickets just in case we miss it, thankfully we don’t.

Florence is a beautiful place with beautiful and interesting things to see. We’ve been here quite a few times and I love visiting here. My one job is to get the group to The Accedamia to see David, they have an 11am slot. A tip – if you haven’t seen David and you get the opportunity then make the effort, it’s a special piece of art.

The walk from Santa Maria Novella train station via the leather markets to the Accedamia takes no time and they are ready waiting for Elvis their guide in plenty of time.

The Navigator and I leave them and find a coffee and something to eat. Then a reconnaissance mission into the leather markets before heading to the Duomo where we catch up with some of the group. The sun is warming everything up but it’s pleasant in the shade, a pizza for lunch washed down with a beer before we head to the Arno River  via the sculptures in the Piazza, through the middle of the Uffuzi and over the Ponte Vechio.

Eventually we make our way back to the train station, work out how to buy train tickets, pay for a toilet break and find Binnario 16 where our train is waiting. It’s a double decker train, only a couple of stops to Cammucia. The sight of Cortona on the hill as we come into the station is pretty nice.

The little Renault fires up and I immediately I’m directed down another dry gully, when I recover my composure I see a lady in a wheelchair in a street where I think I have to go, mild panic and sweat breaks out, but we go one street further to recover, then a driver error ( unusual?) when I exit a roundabout too early and then have to recirculate back to the road up the hill to Cortona.

A few fellow travellers are in the Piazza sipping spritzers and wine in the cool late afternoon air.

Tonight we use the laundromat, €14 does the Reid and Murphy washing, we’re ready to go again.

A late dinner, then finally bed T about 11

Ciao from Cortona – Pauolo

Today is Monday.

Last night’s dinner was great, another restaurant, great food and good company. The restaurant had some musicians playing in the alley, I guess cost shared by the 4 or 4 other restaurants. There are 2 guitars and a beautiful gypsy waif dancing seductively shaking a tambourine. They play, Led Zeppelin, Dire Straits, Santana, the Eagles, the lead guitar plays finger style like Mark Knopfler, he’s very clever, his voice though is a bit non descript like Knopfler as well, not in a bad way but not a strong big voice. We could stay all night but we don’t. The woman sitting next to us is from Brisbane, a Virgin hostee, sorry steward, and a real estate agent, her father is Italian so she’s visiting family. She loves this part of Rome because it’s so lively, I must say I agree with her.

A gellato then home for a cupof tea, preliminary pack ready for our 6:15 pick up.

Ok now to today, which is Mond. It’s a bit eiry (sic) on the dark quiet streets of Rome as the €50 black Mercedes van whisks us the Termini train station. The train to  Cortona is on platform Est 2, not easy to work out where that is, the Trenitalia staff are not that helpful then we find one that is, so then we  make the long trek to the rattler train taking the back track to Florence.

We find there aren’t many people on the train, thats good, so after fanging along at up to 160 km/hour we get to Cortona a few minutes late. Enzo, our van driver, and possibly related to Enzo Ferrari by the way he drives, meets us and gets us to run, he’s late for his next job, and tears up the hill and drops us in Piazza Della Republica right near our accomodation the Hotel Italia. The lady at reception is nice but vague, our rooms change a few times, but when we get to them they are quiet nice. Paul & Liz have a great view over the Tuscan Valley towards Lago Tresimeno.

Paul and I go and pick up our little Citroen Clio, a little blue speed machine. The walk down and up takes a bit of energy even with the elevators.

Breakfast is up in the next piazza, pastry and coffee.

Now I still find it hard to comprehend that you can be on the other side of the world and run into somebody you know, even though initially you don’t recognise the face. Well that happened today. The Aussie in the black Kathmandu puffer vest behind us leans over and says( he’s clearly and Aussie) and the discussion goes something  lije this – ” where are you from?” , Answer ” Dubbo, where are you from?” The answer ” Adelaide but I used to live in Orange” , I say ” we used to live in Orange, played a bit of rugby, then came to Dubbo”, ” who did you play with?” , ” Orange City” I replied, he said ” Unbelievable, I played for Orange City, when did you play?” , Answer ” Late 70s”, ” what’s your name?…… and so on…… Anyway between 1977 and I think 1980 I played rugby with Orange City and it was a great club, I played with well administered club with a great bunch of blokes and women involved in the club.

Oh I forgot to tell you, his name was Ian Dixon (aka “Dog”), a master of the dark arts of the scrum and he’s here in Cortona with Deb (his wife) for three months. He tells me another of our team mates Ian Sinclair (aka “Stinky” – can’t explain why?) lives about two hours from here. Anyway lucky buggers spending time and living here in Italy.

We do an orientation walk with the Murphy’s, then lunch, we walk some more, find an artist who does exquisite, fine pen and ink drawings, the originals would need both my kidneys to pay for one, and the numbered prints are way cheaper but still worth a few €’s. Wandering the streets of Cortona is so nice and such a good way to pass the time.

Drinks in the Piazza is at 6pm, a few beers aperitifs before we walk to Dolce Maria for one of Paola’s dinners. The food is great but takes a long time to arrive, the two nurses misbehave with a little cooee noise from the balcony higher up. Bloody nurses and their party party party! It’s about 11:30pm when we get to bed.

Ciao from Cortona – Pauolo

The early risers are up sipping tea, and toasting toast so I have to get up. First job was to finish the previous days blog and tidy up Day 9 Part 2 photos. The wifi here is a bit slow at night, maybe its when the schoool kids are home, not sure so things on the tablet take longer to load up than they should

Oh, and today is Sunday, its supposed to be a day of rest, so why are all these people out walking?

First stop is Campo de Fiori. I love this place, its full of life, the name means something like “field of flowers”, a hangover from what it was in the middle ages, a paddock with flowers. Its lively, there are fresh flowers sold in the morning, fruit, herbs and vegetables as well as clothing and other stuff. Its on the edge of the Jewish Quarter and not far from the funky Trastavere area. There is one store I’m looking for, it’s a cap and hat stall that I’ve bought a number of caps from over the years. I hoping that I can replace the cap that I lost in Bangkok a bit over a month ago when a gust of wind took it off my head while I was riding in a tuk tuk in heavy traffic. The linen cap I’m after isn’t there so I settle on a lighter coloured cotton cap. I still have one navy bue linen one from the second last time I procured caps from this stall. He’s there, Covid didn’t get him, and I buy a light coloured cap. The Navigator buys clothes and a scarf, IDT (aka the Theatre Nurse) gets mentored through the purchasing process and negotiation with Italian stall keepers, she’s a shopper for all seasons, if she was a footballer they”d call her a “utility” player. The Theater Nurse successful buys stuff at a reduced price.

Next stop is the Pantheon, the crowds are bustling, its coolish in the alley ways as we walk. Unfortunatley the Pantheon is closed and one thing we didn’t know is that its only open on week-ends by booking and there is a sign saying all slots for today are done. Hot tip, if you’re here on week-days its open and free for anyone 9:30am to 6:45am but week-ends check the website and book in, its closed for a church service on Sunday mornings.

Next is Trevi Fontana (The Trevi Fountain), its crowded but Genelle and Liz get space to do the obligatory coin toss.

The walk to The Spanish Steps (Spagna) is via a cafe we visited 10 days ago, a coffee and tea for caffeine to stimulate the mind to push through the pain of sore feet and backs. The Spanish Steps is crawling with people, I’m not sure I’ll be walking up this way again.

We head to the Tiber River, cross to the Pratti side, walk past the Italian High Court building, following the river heading towards Castel Sant Angelo (Castle of the Angels) and Pont Sant Angelo (Bridge of the Angels). St Peters Square is busy and quite warm and I decide to rest my feet while the others walk up towards St Peters. Scintillante (aka the Electrician ) is afraid that the building won’t cope if he walks inside, so keeps his distance. I’m trying to think of what you call a Lapsed Irish Catholic Agnostic.

It’s a slow walk back to our residential area for a late lunch at a nearby restaurant. Its around the corner, its a busy place, locals and tourists, its after 3 and we get drinks, 2 pizzas and a caprese salad. The food is simple but beautiful, sounds Italian to to me.

The women head to find a taxi to take them to a view over Rome, the Electrician and I head back to the apartment for a rest.

Genelle & Liz in Piazza Navona

Tonight we’re having a quiet dinner and packing for the early start to Termini Train Station to get to Cortona. A car is organised to pick us up at 6:15am, train leaves at 7am and we should be in Cortona about 9:30am

Ciao from Rome – Paulo