Time for a bit of Gnocchi

It was a little sad to say goodbye to our faithful Pietro this morning in Arezzo.  We have had him for 17 days and traveled over 2500 km.  He was a pleasure to drive from lane ways in town to the Autostrada doing 130km/h.

We often parked where other tourists in larger cars couldn't and were always left with coin in the pocket when refilling the diesel tank. When in Italy we will be hiring a car again and selecting the fiat Panda, a perfect accompaniment to a couple traveling in this country. (I would like to trade in my Barina when I get home for my own Fiat Panda - Katie)

On the road again

We have had only a couple of long days on the road and today was one of them, from Arcola to Castiglion Fiorentino.  It was with slight sadness that we were to leave our host Giacomo this morning, he was a pleasure to stay with and could not come with a more higher recommendation from us.  His knowledge of the area and hospitality was second to none, thanks Giacomo. If we are ever in the LaSpezia area again we will stay at Villa Ducci.

Porto Venere

Video of us in Porto Venere

The long and winding road

Levanto is the next town north from the Cinque Terre and was recommended to us as a place to go and see.  This journey however required Pietro to climb over some of the most mountainous terrain we have covered, yet.

Leaving La Spezia we passed through a couple of tunnels and then the curvy and narrow roads began.

Motoring, music and mountians

Leaving early from the lovely town of Modena we chose to drive the local roads to Parma.  Driving on the AutoStrada is a great way to get from one place to another fast, but so many sights are passed and missed.

Generally the road we followed from Modena to Parma

Lovely leather, fine Ferrari's and powerful Pavarotti

Today was our last full day in Modena. We wondered in to the centre after breakfast and dropped in the visitor information centre, to make sure we hadn't missed anything important. We stopped in

Fitting the pieces together.

Up and early today and we were in little Pietro before 7:20 and headed for the Autrostrada and Ravenna.
A little after 9am we arrived at our destination, Ravenna. I must say using the SatNav sure makes

Leaving Bologna at 8X speed.

Here is a video of us leaving Bologna at 8X speed.

Today we graduated with a Diploma in Gelatology!

Today we had pre-booked a unique and one off experience - a gelatology class. However, this was the end point of the day. The journey to get there from Modena would take a little while. Shannon had read about an interesting statue of the local favourite - Tortellini. We stopped in the small town of Castelfranco Emilia and discovered the fascinating monument, which appears to be the centre point of town.

Milan, Cremona and Modena

This morning we woke to something we hadn't seen in a while - rain! It was also a little cooler in Milan this morning, which was a relief from the past few very hot days.

After breakfast we caught the

Driving from Urnasch to Appenzell

Video of the drive from Urnasch to Appenzell in Appenzellerland Switzerland.

Cheese, Church and Cable Car

Today it was time to learn about the making of Appenzeller cheese at the "Appenzeller Demonstration Cheese Dairy in Stein.  This was a real working dairy that allowed us to

Driving on the "right" side of the road

When we started planning this trip it was decided to include driving. Public transport in Europe is fantastic and in Switzerland runs like clock work, but driving a car around a place makes you feel a little more like a local, than just another tourist. It also allows us to see more of the places away from the main tourist routes. When we landed in Zurich yesterday, we