The first thing I'm going to do when I sell some videos is come back here and open up a chain of internet cafés. Everywhere I've ever been has had at least 2, and we can't seem to ever find them now. I guess that is part of staying away from the tourist areas. So obviously we've found this spot, but once again I can't hook up my laptop to upload pics. I'm sorry for that, as I am sure it would make this blog more interesting.
We stayed in our first Agriturismo, the first in what will soon be a long list. It is called La Madre, check it out at www.LaMadre.com. It sits in the hills and looks out on a verdant green valley that rolls down and kisses the Mediterranean Sea. We couldn't have asked for a better start. Along with touring this wonderful country we also want to demonstrate that agriturismi and small family run B&Bs are a great alternative to everyday hotels. Fabio and Carla De Rossi made our reasoning more than clear. After showing us around there property, and through some of the other apartments, Fabio made us a huge breakfast. Eggs and Pancetta, toast, fuit, salami, juice, coffee, and more. He was so proud to show us the CD of the Blues singer from Texas that had stayed with them. And Carla was so sweet as she leafed through the guestbook and told us about some of the people that had stayed with them. We sat at the breakfast table for who knows how long as they told us about the area, and pulled out maps to tell us where to go. This is what you get when you stay in a place like this!
We started our day in Genova, the largest port in Italy. Can you imagine that it has more than 17 miles of Dock? The first thing we took in was the Acquarium, which by differing accounts would appear to be either the second largest in Europe, or just one of the largest. In either case it was great, there were 70 tanks, 800 different species, and more than 10,000 animals. The best part was learning that the Piranha that was big enough to swallow a poodle whole, was a vegetarian. Once you get past the harbor, Genova opens up into the big city that it is. Not exactly what we're looking for, but with some legwork you can find your way to the old town. Via Garibaldi especially. This is where the richest of Genova's maritime rich came to build there palaces. I could have spent all day on this one street looking at the paintings, the fountains, and the architecture. Due to an unforeseen complication we had to change our route a bit. From Genova we had to ride all the way up to Courmayeur, which is all the way up in the North West corner, almost bordering on France. This of course took the better part of the day, so we didn't stop anywhere else today. However, we did cruise through the Val D'Aosta, where if you throw a stone in any direction you'll hit a castle. Unbelieably beautiful. The good news is we're going to make it back there in a couple of days to check out a few of the best ones. I certainly hope we can upload pics that day because it is going to be brilliant.