(written 11/4/06 15:04 Greek time, in Náfplio, Greece)
We had, of course been to Italia
before, so this time we could be more selective and see things off the railway line (last time our campervan Rosie
blew up on us just outside of Venice, leaving us to travel the rest of the way across/around Europe by train and backpack).
The first of these was the reason we had chosen the way into Italia that we did - Turino, recent site of the 2006 Winter Olympic Games.
As we crossed the border into Italia, snow was still all around us as we wound our way back down the side of the mountains. We could see thick fog off in the distance as we joined a motorway from a much larger more northern border crossing and headed due east to
Torino.
The typical big-city problem occurred and we couldn't really find where we were going with no map and no decent signs, but after crossing the entire city on the main road I saw a camping sign which we decided to head for. Turned out to be Camping Villa Rey, listed in Lonely Planet and plenty nice enough, set up on a hill just outside of town. We had hoped to find cheap accommodation in the glut after the Olympics, but nothing obvious hit us and we couldn't find the tourist office.
We set up our tent and had a bit of a look around the site complete with old buildings, and I was just asking the camping guy for a map and some directions into town when he offered us a lift back down the windy hill to the bus stop!
Us being us though, we had a map and would rather get the exercise, so we walked from there into the middle of town.
We stopped for a drink, stumbling into Caffe' Elena, surely the most ritzy place in town and feeling very out of place, but enjoying a chat there in the corner all the same. After the pain of the cost of that, we moved on looking around the streets.
Not too surprisingly, Liz managed to find the chocolate festival that was happening, filling up one of the central squares with all manner of sugary goodness. I let her wander around and sample for a while, and when we re-joined we went through the Lindt tent - her favourite - together sampling what they have on offer.
Even though she wasn't feeling well after eating too much chocolate, we went off for some dinner anyway. The restaurant
Ristorante Pizzeria Lampara we found was packed with locals, and our attempts at remembering Italiano again were rather faltering. Still, we got some great food, and my primi (entree) could have fed about six people - a huge pile of tasty spaghetti with sauces and meats. When I didn't eat it all, feeling very full and still having a main course to get through, I got a nasty look and gesticulations from a waiter obviously not impressed with me. No matter, we enjoyed ourselves and paid just as well as anyone else, managing the much more reasonably-sized main courses, a carafe of wine, some bread and coffees.
We walked all the way back to camping, a good way to get digesting the great Italian food.