Bricktastic

The backblips start here! A few more to come.

Today was the last day of our adventure, and we had a bit of a lie-in and a leisurely breakfast. When the others went on their high-level walk on Saturday, it was so cloudy and rainy that they didn’t get to see Monte Cervino because it was swathed in cloud. So Lorenzo proposed driving to a viewpoint to look at it. Sadly the bar with the perfect view that he favoured was closed, so instead we drove to Cervinia, the rather unattractive ski resort on the Italian side of this famous mountain.

I should perhaps explain that Monte Cervino is better known to non-Italians as the Matterhorn, as featured on Toblerone packaging. It took ages to get there, up a steep mountain road with numerous traffic lights due to roadworks repairing damage from last autumn. But we certainly did have a great view of the 4,478 metre peak from the car park (extra 1). Then we decided to walk into town for a coffee. May and June are out of season for Cervinia, a pause after the ski season and before summer tourism starts. Many businesses were closed, either for holidays or flood damage repairs, and most of the roads were being dug up and resurfaced too. We found a terrace with a view at a bar desperately trying to evoke an après-ski ambiance with ghastly Italian pop music blaring from loudspeakers at the two customers (our arrival increased numbers to 9).

We had a leisurely coffee and then set off to drive to Turin, where we were booked into a hotel for the night. We perhaps should have taken a less leisurely approach to the day — it took an hour just to get to the autostrada, another to get to the outskirts of Turin, and then — well, like a good Roman Lorenzo negotiated Turin traffic with impressive brio. It was well after three by now. Thank goodness we’ve had him to drive us around as well as doing the mountain guiding — we couldn’t have done this trip without him. He parked illegally just round the corner from the hotel and drove off to find a better space to park while we checked in. It took him a good half hour to get back, and we all bade him a fond farewell before he set off to drive 800 km home to Abruzzo (over two days, I hasten to add!).

Bundle, Angela, Louise, and Sandy went shopping to buy a picnic for their train journey tomorrow, and to find a place for an early dinner. This was the point where I discovered I had somehow left behind my SD card reader for the iPad. I think it must have fallen under a piece of furniture, as I’d had a good look round before leaving the Hotel Diana to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. I found an Apple Store six minutes’ walk away though, so S and I walked there while also looking out for eateries. Apple had discontinued the handy card reader and wanted 50 euros for a simple cable to convert Lightning to USB, still leaving me with the problem of how to connect the card. I have a cable at home for the same job that I paid about 10 euros for, so that was a hard no. What a rip-off! 

Then S and I sat down at a bar opposite this magnificent palace for a beer — those kings of Savoy certainly liked their brickwork. Then we went for a bit of a gentle explore (another couple of extras) before rejoining the others, who had ended up at the bar I blipped during the downpour on the day we arrived in Turin. We had a surprisingly good meal. It’s safe to order spaghetti carbonara in Italy (don’t try this in France folks), so Bundle and I did, and it was delicious — I’ve never had a better one. On the walk back to the hotel, S bought an amazing ice cream from a nearby gelateria specialising in organic goat milk. The other four had to be up very early for their train to Paris, so we said goodbye … till next time! And so to bed.