The Greek ferry from Igoumenitsa in the north western corner of Greece to Ancona in Italy was due to leave at 9pm on the 18th.  The most expedient thing was to leave in the late morning and complete the 6-hour drive in one day – besides, it allowed us to squeeze one extra day in Milina.  The drive took us back through Agria and Volos and past Trikala, Kalabaka and Ionnina.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ferry arrived an hour later than its scheduled departure time but the seemingly impossible number of vehicles waiting at the terminal were ushered on board impressively quickly if a little shambolically.   We headed straight for our cabin and settled in for the night crossing which was smooth apart from a thunderstorm in the morning – that, and another dose of offhand service from the surly waiters at breakfast – what is it with waiters on ferries? Perhaps because of the storm, arrival in (a very wet) Ancona was two hours later than scheduled and we had less time than we’d planned to make it to our next destination – Bologna, for the second time, where we would spend the night and show Catherine our favourite spots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our next destination was Lake Como to visit relatives of Flavio’s who’d moved back to Italy from Egypt.  Our route however took us very close to Milan and it seemed a shame to miss the opportunity to take a quick look at Italy’s most elegant and sophisticated city. That it certainly was, with prices to match – 30-odd Euros for two (very fancy) ice-creams, a fancy jam-tart and coffees! Shamefully, we didn’t research the history of the city but were impressed by the magnificent Gothic extravagance of the Duomo but less so by the Scala which was a surprisingly dull building.  More interesting was the statue of Leonardo da Vinci across the road from it, with the simple inscription “Leonardo”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The campsite we’d plumped for was not the most convenient in terms of proximity to Flavio’s relatives but it enabled us to see a part of Italy that was new to us.  It was at Piano Porlezza, at the top end of Lake Como, very close to Lake Lugano and the Swiss border but it was one of just two campsites in the area so we had little choice.  The drive to it through the often scarily narrow mountain road following the contour of the lake and through one picturesque village after another was seemingly endless and it was dark by the time we arrived.  We had stopped at a small supermercato just before and though it had just closed they took pity on us and let us in (hard to imagine this in London) so we’d managed to get some emergency provisions for supper ie some local wine and something to go with it!

The weather had cooled down quite a bit and the next day seemed a good opportunity to explore the area via a long walk which took us down to the quintessential Italian lakeside town of Menaggio on the western side of Lake Como on the way down to which the views were quite spectacular.  Menaggio was a walled city during Roman times and remnants of the wall could still be seen.  Now, apart from being a very beautiful cool summer resort especially popular with the Germans, it’s also the place Mussolini tried to take refuge in when his luck finally ran out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The walk back to the campsite took us through a densely wooded and hilly path which was quite a challenge but invigorating.  In the middle of it, a stunning waterfall.  The entire walk was almost 20 kms and we arrived back at sunset with aching feet and limbs.

Flavio’s father Simon was born in Alexandria, Egypt, as was his grandfather Galileo.  Both were architects though Simon turned to interior design when he (a little reluctantly) emigrated to London in 1968 following further clampdowns on the foreign community by Nasser after the 6-day war.  Galileo was one of 6 brothers and sisters and one brother, Edmondo, was father to Armando, also an architect but in Cairo.  Armando died in the late 90s leaving behind his wife Rita and daughter Silvana, who now lived in Lombardy, Italy.  This was a good opportunity for Flavio to see them both so we first went to meet Silvana in Lomazzo who took us to see Rita, who was now in a home or Casa di Riposo (house of rest) as it’s called in Italian in a splendid old mansion donated to the community by Cecilio Vallardi, a local dignitary in the town of Appiano.

Seeing Rita was a very emotional moment as she had been a very kind woman, loved by everyone, especially the children and she and Flavio’s mother had been very close. It was sad to see her old-age sadness but also good to see her momentary happiness at this unexpected reunion.

Back in Lomazzo for coffee, Silvana and Flavio exchanged a few memories of the antics they used to get up to as children – “ti ricordi quando ci facevamo dispetti tua sorella e me contro di te / quando ti ho sbatacchiato sulla testa con l’altalena?” (Do you remember when your sister and I used to tease you and try and get you into trouble / when I knocked you on the head with the swing?) and such like.

It was good to see them and it was past 2pm when we left. We now had to race against time to get to our next destination – Blace in the Beaujolais-growing area near Lyons by the following afternoon, where we were to spend a day or two with our vineyard-owning friends Laurent and Blandine before the vendange started on the 15th when it would get too busy.