Slept in until 8:20 then it was time to hit the shower. We decided, once again, to give Elena the morning off and do our own breakfast today in order to use up some of the fridge contents. Kelly and Simone played barista and we soon enjoyed a nice cup of coffee/espresso before breakfast.
Hugh is our head chef this morning and eggs are on the menu. (amongst other items of course). Kelly was baking up some fresh croissants as well. No one starved!
The weather has turned and it has been raining off and on since yesterday late afternoon. We have had both light and heavy rains come through during the night with the odd bit of blue sky this morning. We gathered around the kitchen table and came up with a plan to just do what Kelly and Agnes do on trips abroad... just drive around and see the sights... no destination... just go.
We loaded up the car and off we went, simply following our gut feeling. Our path took us towards Camiore where we followed one of the roads up the hill.
They slowly got narrower until they were really just a single lane. Hugh felt he had reached his "limit" and we turned around and headed back down. We stopped at the Badia di San Pietro church and took some pictures and toured through the cemetery for a few moments. Generations of families lie buried/entombed here.
View from a pullout.
Next up I randomly picked a spot across the town and up another hilltop called Pedona. The windy road took us up to the very top and we quickly found a parking spot. We walked out to the furthest point and enjoyed the views looking out towards Le Spezia.
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| Pedona |
Great views!
On the way back to the car, we stopped and enjoyed a cappuccino at Il Giorno which featured a nice view of the town of Camiore down below. It was closed for dinner but there were a few locals enjoying coffee so we joined in.
We wound our way down the hill, stopping to enjoy the views along the way. Our route took us back towards Massarosa so we made a quick stop at Conad for some "special supplies" :-)
We then traveled back towards the Villa with a stop at the Catholic Church at Chiesa di San Pantaleone in Pieve a Elici. We had been by this particular church numerous times but finally decided to get a closer look.
We continued up the hill and made a quick stop at Gualdo where we managed to grab a geocache and check out the neat little restaurant beside the church. Very impressive!
The small building on the right is the restaurant.
We wound our way down the hill and made a stop at the Monumento ai caduti di guerra to get a better view. We believe it's to honor fallen soldiers during the war. There was also a hidden bunker located behind it that you could not see from the road.
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| Bunker |
Back at the Villa, we had some snacks and I braved the pool as the sun made a sudden entrance and the temps soared a couple degrees :-) It was very refreshing.
Elena arrived to prepare dinner and I started up the fire... it was an unusual struggle but it finally caught. Kelly clearly enjoyed the warmth that it provided.
Dinner tonight was Ossobuco with mushroom risotto & Crostata di frutta for desert.... I'm totally stuffed!
Hugh & Simone had a bit of business to take care of with the building in Langley but once that was done he decided to beat me at a game of crib. He took on Kelly next and beat her as well... sheesh he was on a roll tonight!
Tomorrow is our last full day in Italy before we return home on Friday. We will make a plan in the morning. Off to bed.
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