Working week and then home

Spent the week working under the umbrella on the terrace in the mornings and early afternoons. Started to get quite hot especially after 3pm.

Did some food shopping to take home in Aulla.

Final bike ride to Pontremoli on 29th.

Left the apartment about 10:00 on Thursday - a couple of hours later than expected. A good drive until Gottard tunnel where there were hugh delays - about 2 hours. Eventually got through. Not much of a delay at Swiss border but had to pay road tax.

Stayed the night at Novotel in Saint Avold - good location, nice hotel.

Started about 08:00 on Friday, stopped at Luxembourg to fill up with petrol. 4pm ferry to Dover. Scenic costal route to Brighton, arriving about 8pm. Stayed at Gary & Lisa's then headed home on Saturday afternoon.

Aulla, work & coffee

I rode into Aulla in the morning to download emails. Worked quite well and had a cappuccino to boot.

Saturday - Aulla

All of us went into Aulla for a wander around. Did some food shopping.

La Spezia for the day

Went to La Spezia for the day - very pleasantly surprised. The centre is lovely, nice shops and easy to walk around. Lunch at funny little place - Osteria di Mimmi. Tiny. The owner cam out, took our order and then went into the kitchen and cooked it. Quite rich food but very tasty.

Bought a bottle of grappa for Tims belated 50th. Excellent wine shop (Casa del vino). Went into a clothes shop and Jayne & George bought a few things for the children

Bike ride to Pontremoli

Bike ride to Pontremoli in the morning - it was market day. Lazed around the apartment and had takeaway pizza for dinner.

Bologna for the day

Went to Bologna for the day - well worth it. It took about an hour & half. After a coffee we split up - Jayne & George doing some clothes shopping and me looking around food markets. Definitely a foodie heaven. Bought a few bits and pieces, some for Stephen & Bridget. Nice coffee in a bar behind market - portraits on the wall

Lunch was at a place called Clive T, down a quite back street and very enjoyable. Excellent pasta with pumpkin (totelloni zucca). Lunch was 58€ Afterwards an ice cream at Sorbetteria Castiglione - a bit of a walk but worth finding. On the way back passed the posh shops - Louis Vuitton, Prada etc.

Had a look in the cathederal

Before returning to the apartment stopped at Doro centry supermarket just outside Villafrance.

Angela for dinner

Angela was coming to dinner tonight. Did the food shopping in the morning followed by the obligitory caffee in Bar Nello.

Dinner was: Courgette,lemon and farro salad; chicken & veg kebabs on the BBQ with peanut sauce; chocolate tart; triffle (angela wasn't keen). Dinner was outside on the terrace - lovely...

Cinqure Terre by boat

Spent the day around the Cinque Terra. Got to Lerici for the 10:00? boat. Whether was a bit dodgey but cleared up nicely during the day. The sea was quite rough and we really noticed it getting on & off the boat. Stopped first at Riomaggiore for a coffee and then at Vernazza for lunch. Had a good wander around Vernazza - really liked it - one of the better villages.
Didn't go on to Monterosso, instead headed back and stopped at Portovenere - again a lovely place worth spending some time at. Bought some nice pesto for Stephen & Bridget.

Lazing in the apartment & Bagnone concert

In the morning went for a bike ride to Podenzana. Didn't do too much after that, just rested at the apartment and planned the week. Went into Bagnone for the evening, after dinner, for a classical concert (strings) in one of the little squares. Had pre-concert icecreams at our favourite gelateria. Met Angela. Lovely evening.

Aulla market & new dongle

George & I went into Aulla to the Saturday market. Stopped at Bar Nello for a coffee first. Mainly clothes in the market, not much in the way of food. Bought a few supplies - veg, meat & fruit (lovely peaches).

Went to phone shop to try and sort out my mobile broadband and ended up having to buy a new dongle (59euros). Managed to get internet connection fine from the terrace but could not get VPN to work so had real problems getting access to emails etc.

Back from Warsaw

Early flight (06:50) from Warsaw and the airport was quite busy. Big queue through security however I went round to the other terminal and went straight thru.

Had some lunch in a small restaurant in Parma near the train station - timing was a bit tight.

All the connections went well on the way home and I was back in Villafranca mid afternoon.

Went for a drink in Bar Nello and pizza in Bagnone.

Agile workshop in Warsaw

I lead a workshop on Agile development with senior IT managers from Poland. About 20 altogether. The day went well. Went for a late lunch and service was very slow so delay in getting started for afternoon session.

The others flew back to Paris in the evening, I stayed another night. Dinner in a restaurant called Sense. Fusion food - OK but would not go back. Place is known for larger number of vodkas.

Stayed in Novotel hotel and was on the 23rd floor - great view of Warsaw over new town.

Train to Milan, flight to Warsaw

Caught train from Villafranca station at about 8:00. Tickets were not a problem, I just showed the confirmation to conductor. When I got to Parma I picked up the tickets from the machine.
Parma station had a good 3G signal so was able to download emails.
Spent a few hours in Milan wandering around - quite warm. Saw La Scala opera house - doesn't look much from the outside. Milan catherdral looks fantastic, nicely cleaned. Galleria Vittorio Emanuale II was also fantastic, some lovely shops.
Had a few problems trying to get train ticket to airport, only to realise there is only a bus. Very busy at train station with loads of people queuing up to buy tickets.
Flight to Warsaw was fine and got there on time although it was a long day.
Very warm in Warsaw.
Met some of the other people (Benjamin, Remy & Yoann) in the old town and had a beer and snack for dinner.

Day in the apartment & getting ready for Warsaw

Spent the day in the apartment sorting things out and also getting ready for my trip to Warsaw. Went to the local hardware to get some lights for the cooker. Went to the train station to try and pick up tickets however everything was closed. Rode down on my bike.
Had problems with mobile broadband and ended up going to Aulla to get an 3 Italy SIM. However it didn't work with my modem.
Dinner on the terrace - lovely.

France, Switzerland & Italy

Left hotel about 8:00, entered Switzerland and sotpped for coffee just before San Gotthard tunnel.
Stopped at Autogrill, near Milan for Lunch. The south going side is much better for food than the north going side (as we found out on the way back). Lunch was 24€.
Stopped at Medesano services for quick coffee then on to apartment. Everything fine. Picked up some food at Conad in Villafranca.
Stopping overnight at Mullhouse was definitely a good thing to do re distance.

Ferry & Drive

Left Stephens place early in the morning to catch an 8AM ferry from Dover. Very easy and much better than driving from Bath.
Filled up car and stomachs in Luxembourg - petrol is a lot cheaper. Noticed that many people were carrying bags of coffee pods. Went to the service station shop and found that not only petrol but coffee & chocolate were much reduced.
Arrived at hotel - Novotel in Sausheim (near Mulhouse) early evening and had very pleasant meal at hotel.

Day in Folkestone

Spent the day in Folkestone with Stephen & Bridget. Nice lunch at restaurant in old town.
Dinner at home.

Left for Italy

Left home about 3pm and drove to Folkestone to stay with Stephen & Bridget.
Our drive to Italy - over 3 days


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