Montecatini Trip - 9 - Abetone

Sunday 3rd July 2005 - Abetone

At breakfast, we had a bit of luck, we hope. There was a new couple, who had had a traumatic journey yesterday evening but they both worked for Hounslow Social Services & she, with the Mental Health part, so they were told All About Richard. She revealed that people in their own homes did not get any help. We let that hang in the air but I will use it next time I contact Hounslow.

As an 'off-day' light excursion, we set off for Abetone, a ski resort about 30 miles North of Montecatini. The road was very 'green', pulling up into the mountains in a very wiggly way. We took a photo of Marliana & of Piteglio.

There were many cyclists & villages with festivals of varying sorts. Some seemed to be church-based & some, Olive Tree Party based on the old Communist party Unity Festival model. This made some villages quite difficult to drive through, as people were all over the narrow & occasionally steep, roads. Some rest day. From La Lima to Abetone was a 16km pull up &, when we got there, our reward was the views either side, although the resort itself was a bit untidy. We had coffees in the Caffé Roberta for E1.10 each & picked up the brochure. There was more skiing than immediately met the eye but I doubt if many people in GB have heard of the place.

We slid back downhill & turned up left to the village of St. Marcello Pistoiense, where we stopped at a café for a sandwich for Avis & more coffee each (E3.80). I am doing without lunch to try to counteract the stodge served for dinner in the hotel. There was another pass Eastwards which took us over to Pistoia, a long drop below but Abetone is at 1388m & St. Marcello at 672m, so it had been easy to forget how high we were. A quick trip back to Montecatini &, after a siesta, I got into the pool but Avis is fed up with being bitten all over. So am I but I need the exercise. I chatted to the Irishman by the pool, who has the problem of being invited to a ten-year-old's birthday party tonight & what present do you take? The Hounslow people gave us a useful hint as to how to get Richard some service - get him to dump ownership of the flat & charge him rent. The Social will pay the rent & we can use that to pay for his services. Bizarre. After dinner, adequate veal steak, we drove into the town centre & walked around but there was nothing going on at any of the terme, so went back & put the world to rights with Barry, Frances, Ann & Sean.