Italy 2: Into Alassio

Alassio was the nearest town to the campground we where staying in. In the early afternoon we made the trip down the mountain from our campground to the main office to buy a bus ticket because if you bought them ahead of time the ticket was half the price. When we arrived at the office then attendant told us that the bus to Alassio was ‘finished’ for the day. This seemed very odd and we were quite disappointed by this fact and mused about what to do. As we were trying to figure out an action plan we say a bus go by headed to Alassio. We decided that we did not trust the attendant, so we would just ‘buy a ticket for tomorrow’ and then wait for the next bus heading into Alassio. Leona went to buy the ticket and the attendant told her that the tickets for tomorrow we also ‘finished’. We then realized that the attendant was using the word ‘finished’ to mean ‘sold out’. So we went and waited at the bus stop and paid the cash price. Good thing we did not walk up the mountain back to the campground.

The bus stop is on the main road, when I say on the road that is exactly what I mean. You are standing on the shoulder of the highway just enough space to make sure that your toes do not get run over. I do not think there is more than 50 cms between the wall and the white line. The bus came quickly enough and we made the short trip into the city. The economy of the town seemed to be dependant on tourism, but it appeared that most of the tourist who were there were Italian. We walked around the main sections of the city and along the way stopped off at a tourism office. Overall there was not too much historical artifacts to see in the city, but Rome was the next stop so that did not trouble us too much. We had supper at one of the restaurants along the water. It was nice. I had pizza and Leona had bruschetta. The crust of the pizza was crisp on the edges but doughy in the centre. The cheese was what really made the pizza good. We then caught the bus back to the campground. I was a little worried about getting the right stop as the highway was quite dark and did not want to end up in Albenga (the next city) so we sat at the front of the bus. We successfully got off on the right stop and made trek up the mountain.

Next post: Rome

Italy 1: Well first to Switzerland and then to Italy

The trip to Italy was excellent. I am going to blog about it over the next little while (maybe a week or so) to offer some of the highlights. We left on Saturday (August 23) and drove to a camping place in Switzerland that is located on the Genfer See (Lac Leman in French, as it is in the French part of Switzerland). We arrived at the camp ground fairly late on in the evening as we were somewhat tardy in leaving Freiburg. The drive was good, but we forgot to change the settings on the Navi system to main highways so it lead us on the side street route. We pulled over and changed it, but still had problems when we crossed into Switzerland because we also forgot take off the avoid tolls command. To drive on the highways in Switzerland you need a toll sticker, a yearly expense, but the Navi considers that a toll so it gave us some weird route to take. We basically just followed the signs to Geneva and then changed it on the way. After we arrived we went to the restaurant at the camp ground. Paying the bill was interesting as we forgot (it seems that I am saying 'we forgot' a lot so far) to pick up a couple Swiss Francs to pay with when in Switzerland. We did not get a very good exchange rate for our Euros. The camp ground was nice, nothing too special. I am not sure whether this was a year end party or just a regular Saturday night at the camp ground, but there was a dance party going on with a live band. It was very funny... one guy was in full Scottish gear and doing some sort of swan dance in the aisle.

We left in good time on Sunday morning and headed to Italy. The drive was quite something as we drove through the Swiss Alps into the Italian Alps. We looked it up after we got back and the highest point in the Alps is higher than the Rocky Mountains in British Columbia. At times as we circled the mountains it appears as if we were about to drive off the edge of the road, but then the road would take a 120 degree turn and we would ascend/descend again. At one point I had to pass a guy riding a bike with oncoming traffic, not much space left on either side. There were numerous tunnels on the way to Italy and the Swiss tunnels looked well taken care of and clean. Not so much when you cross the border as the tunnels become dirtier and appear that little bit more suspect. When we made it to Genova we drove along the Mediterranean in the direction of France. The view was very nice as we were not that far from the water through out most of the trip. We had made reservation at a camp ground called Monti e Mare (MeM) just outside of Alassio. We missed it the first time by as the sign said Monti e Mare apartments. The road to the MeM apartments looked as if we drove up a hill were there was no space for campers. When we came to Alassio Leona went down the street looking for someone who she could ask were is the camp ground. I illegally parked in a Bus stop at the side of the road. Luckily Leona found someone who pointed us back 3 kms and we did not get a ticket or get bumped out of the way by a bus. In Canada (at least in main cities, or the cities I have driven in) it is often that three rights and a left (or three lefts and a right) allow you to go back the way you came. Not so easily done in these small Italian villages, and European streets often do not operate on a grid system. It took some time, and some narrow two way (but really more like one and a half) streets to get us going back toward the direction of the camp ground.

It turned out to be the MeM apartments, as we discovered that the camp ground was more of an after thought as most of the places were 'movable' campers that were lived in all summer or perhaps all year round (like Wesley Acres). There were only seven spots for campers. When we pulled up, relieved to be at the camp ground, the receptionist said, "We [are] full!" I responded, "We have reservations!...?" It turned out that we did not have reservations, not sure what happened, but I am sure it was on there end. Anyways, I started looking in the camper book to see what our options were, but Leona, resolve as ever, did not take 'No' as answer and said, "You need to find some place for us to stay for just tonight at least." The receptionist had Leona hop on the back of her Vespa and they drove up the hill to see what they could see. They returned having discovered a spot that we could station ourselves for the evening. The next morning we walked down, it is quite the work out going up and down the hill as it winds back and forth and is pretty steep, and talked to a different receptionist who told us that someone had just left and we could move to their vacated spot. The view from the camping spot was excellent, very nice to enjoy coffee from. We spent the rest of the day at the beach getting burned...

Next posts: "Into Alassio."