Tuesday 1 October 2013

After many hours

 After many hours on the road we reached the small town of Cannero, on Lake Maggiore. We left Reggio Emilia early, and drove past Milan, then to Como, where we had coffee and visited the remarkable cathedral, and then searched for toilets. Maps indicated various locations, but none of them were to be found until we reached the railway station. There ensued severalmore hours of driving. I am fine. I sit in the back seat and take absolutely no responsibilty at all.

The italian road system is something to be marvelled at. In Australia the distances are far greater and the population smaller, and it takes years, it seems, for roads to be built. In Italy there are remarkable autostradas, with many lanes, high speed limits, and trucks must stay in the one lane except when overtaking. The toll stations are numerous with many lanes to get cars through.

Near Reggio Emilia there are three remarkable bridges/overpasses, and unfortunstely I was unable to grt good photos of them, as the car's GPS tended to get very confused when getting us into and out of Reggio. What with the trillion roundabouts and exits, it was not possible to ask for the car to be stopped in order to take a photo.

However I thought i recognised the srchitect, and googled it, and I was right. The bridges were the work of Santiago Calatrava, an amazing and original architect and engineer.I did get some bad photos as we whizzed by this morning and  they will have to do.

We drove to Verbania where we took a car ferry across the lake, then went to Stresa, and finally arrived at Cannero. The hotel is rather more posh than I am used to. We had an enjoyable dinner and then went to a Bar where there was a pianist and a kind of sing song.

 It bas been a long day, through parts of Italy I have not been to previously. The countryside is fascinating, with thick woods and forests, lots of brambles, and so many trees do not appear to have loser branches. I am not surprised Hansel and Gretel could not find their way home. After being on the pianura for a week, with unrelenting flatness, and with low skies for the past few days, to travel through the hills and mountains has been fascinating. Such steepness, sheer rocks, and such incredible engineering. Sometimes we have driven along winding roads, and on other routes, if there is a mountain in the way, why then, just excavate snd put a tunnel right through. I look  at the roads and think of the ancient Romans.
 I am not sure what we will be doing for the next few days. Not eating too much, I hope.

1 comment:

Elephant's Child said...

Hopefully you will get a bit of a rest - or is it just me who finds car trips tiring. Very tiring. Even from the passenger seat.
I am really looking forward to your photos though.