Day 17 – Saturday 18th May 2013
Woke up bright and early and got cracking as we’re off today for the start of our long haul back north, homeward bound. After breakfast, we did a couple of photoshoots of the Minis in front of the hotel, then we were off. Good weather to start with, we decided en route that, as we were skirting around the outskirts of Pisa, it would be worthwhile doing a brief deviation to take in the sight of the Leaning Tower. We found this without any probllem, although as with so many of the touist attractions we found in Rome, the place was swarming with people on the streets trying to sell various items, we were hassled by some as soon as we arrived trying to direct us where to park, etc. We therefore decided that it was not a good idea to leave the Minis unattended in their ‘care’, so we just took a very brief look in turns, took a couple of photos, and left!
The weather considerably deteriorated in the afternoon, so that by the time we arrived at our destination of Ovada, just north of Genova, it was throwing it down. Our accommodation for this evening was a B&B in a farmhouse setting, remote would be something of an under-statement, we were directed by the Satnav up a dirt-track green lane where we were thinking it couldn’t possibly be right. We continued onto a private track with a barrier where we were eventually directed by a local even further up the track until, hey presto!, we found our destination, which looked very pleasant. After checking in with the very pleasant owner there, we ventured into the centre of Ovada, where we eventually found, in the torrentially pouring rain, a very pleasant Pizzeria and had some yummie pizzas. Following the Satnavs, we then managed to get totally lost, we believe it took us to what was presumably the other end of said greenlane, again through somebody’s private residence with ‘beware of the dog’ signs! The green lane from this end looked pretty impassable for the Minis, that had been bottoming out on the other way in earlier on, so we turned around, getting quite stressed by this time! After remembering (eventually!), in our stress, to drive on the correct side of the road (always helps!!), we eventually managed to negotate our way to the ‘correct’ end of the lane and eventually found our way back to our accommodation, another eventful day drawing to a close!
