Towards the Italian sun
We lie in our tent. And wished to be woken up by the morning sunshine. Meanwhile, we hear the soft sounds of rain on the roof of our tent and are woken up by it. Well, that's good too. We know we have further to go today. We don't have much time to let our tent dry.
During a break in the rain we grab our stuff, quickly wipe down the tent and actually pack it away almost dry. We quickly put all our stuff away, on day 2 we can't speak of routine yet, but it's already going better. It is important that everything has its place, because the straps we need tie up 2 of our 3 bags and thus do not allow quick access.
But now quickly pay and go. Actually, we wanted to walk along Lake Maggiore and enjoy the beautiful view. It was supposed to be breakfast in Stresa. Instead, a quick peach and half a litre of water for everyone from the huge 1.5 litre bottle. That was also such a bad buy. No idea where to put this huge bottle. Starting tomorrow, we'll buy small pet bottles that will fit in the tank bag.
But now let's go. As soon as we leave the Parisi campsite, it starts to rain. So rain plus wind is a great idea. Gerd wants to get to the sun as quickly as possible. So up onto the motorway, no romantic drive along the shores of Lake Lago. But the whole thing has several advantages now. We leave the rain front behind us. We drive through many tunnels, which protect us from the rain, and we are quite alone on the motorway, as there is a toll. After 30 minutes we triumph over the weather, from a wet 18 degrees it is now a sultry 28.5 degrees again, which suits us very well. The jeans dry quickly, the shoes too. The jackets are waterproof anyway.
Conclusion motorway. Quickly away from the rain and great tunnels.
In Alessandria we leave the motorway and enter the full motorbike pleasure. Our sat nav is set to "beautiful roads" and leads us over small and larger passes through Piedmont. Simply beautiful.
We stop in one of the enchanting Piedmontese villages at 13 and have an espresso. Okay, I'll have two. They're just too good in Italy. Although we resolved to cook for ourselves and leave very little money in restaurants, Gerd couldn't pass up the tagliatelle pesto. We ordered a portion and shared it. Either we were really hungry or we actually had the best pasta of our lives. Quite magical.
We could have stayed here too, watching the people for hours and feeling that life has stopped here.
But our ferry in Genoa is hardly waiting. So we continue our leisurely drive overland towards Genoa. What a beautiful country Italy is. I could have driven for hours, but it's just under 3 hours from Alessandria over the passes to Genoa.
Arrived in Genoa in bright sunshine and almost 30 degrees, we first drive to the harbour to see where we have to go. It's not that difficult, so we return to the beautiful old town and the historic port of Genoa. Here we had a small gelati for Gerd and then did some shopping for dinner. We didn't want to eat out on the ferry, as we are on a low budget. Somehow that fits wonderfully.
So now we get on our bikes and head for the harbour, they tell us to be there 2 hours before departure. We join the 10 or so queues in the sweltering heat, they put us with the other motorcyclists and we start talking. The older Harley riders from Spain tell us about passes in Austria. About the motorbike museum in Munich. The other Harley rider from Spain speaks Swiss German and tells us that he visited his family in Switzerland and is now going home again. Gerd asks him how everything works on the ferry and we are now well informed, because insider information from such an old ferry hand is of course worth its weight in gold.
We only booked Pullman seats. So the cheapest version. Crossing and seats. He gave us the tip to change our booking on the ferry. We do that and get a single cabin for 47 euros including shower.
But before we go to our room, we meet two cyclists from Oregon USA who want to cycle across Italy and now also through Spain. They tell me about Piedmont and I ask them if they have also drunk the wine there. They both smile, open a bottle and offer us a cup of their good wine. In such nice company, Piedmontese wine suddenly tastes good even in plastic cups. Thank you, dear ones!
Now off to the room and we fall into a deep sleep. The light hum of the boat lulls us to sleep, the sea remains calm and only towards morning does it rock a little.
