Montecatini Trip - 2 - Bagni di Lucca |
Sunday 26th June 2005 - Bagni di Lucca
Avis woke up at about 0030 & woke me up because it was very hot. The air-conditioning was not working &, after some argy-bargy with the non-English-speaking night porter & guessing the right words, we moved to 112 (from our 208) & got a decent night's sleep. Breakfast was ok but the bread was the usual boring Italian stuff. There was Müsli & meats to be had. We drove off West through a succession of slightly run-down looking villages (but I think this is the climate) towards Lucca & turned off towards the hills. These are 'Munros' & quite steep. I took a pair general photos near Vinciano & one of Borga a Mozzano but we stopped just after for the Devil's (or Magdalene's) Bridge, a formidable medieval construction, very high in the middle & steep, which crosses the substantial river & a major achievement for its time - about the 1300s or earlier. Then, we went to Bagni de Lucca, which is further North & stopped for coffee.
Punta da Maddalena |
Avis showing how steep it is |
Bagni di Lucca |
To get back, we went 'over the top' by Benabbio back towards Pescia. There were many hair-pin bends & remote villages but, on the South side, occasional factories which looked as if they recycled paper. These were obviously on the sites of water mills. Getting through Montecatini is still rocket science for me because of the one-way systems. I had to make what I thought was an illegal left turn at one point. We had a snooze in the hotel, back in room 112, as the air-conditioning was not then fixed & they did not think there was much hope of doing so but it was fixed after the snooze. The girl in reception managed it herself.
Domenico Mastromarino arrived at 1505 with his son & 'secretary', his daughter. She chatted to Avis but it seems Domenico's wife is Japanese & he had a guide book of Italian cities he had produced in Japanese. Domenico told me of some of his needs & we agreed to co-operate. Avis was worried about his motivation, especially his emphasising secrecy about the quest. But he did say he wanted to get a book out of that & had already met unknown relatives via his research. I though he was ok, if having rather a love of gadgets, including his old battered camper truck, which had his computer (Mac) & power supply. He sent me the photos he took of us along an ethernet cable to my Mac but he still uses OS9. |
Ken & Domenico |
Hotel's magnificent pool |
He did not leave until about 1750 & we drove up the dramatic road to Montecatini Alto, a much nicer place with a little square where we had a snack, not having had any lunch. There was a mediocre-looking girl in a wedding dress being photoed. We thought it was a publicity shoot. The views were spectacular. Bloody hot all day. Dinner was nothing special again - bass but a bit too salty & not very tasty. We chatted to Barry & Frances again & after, over coffee outside the bar, to a couple from Norwich.
Contact: Ken Baldry: e-mail him ©2005 Ken Baldry. All rights reserved Ken & Avis' web site is stuffed full of interesting things |