Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Onward to Piacenza and then the Coast

I feel something like the man in the fountain as there really isn't much chance of making it to Scotland but I will keep trying and I'll bring it all to you as it comes.  The biggest problem is that I have had no luck at all finding campgrounds or even somewhere I could just unroll the sleeping bag and hide out until dawn.  If there's a day that I can't update the blog it won't mean I'm dead but rather that I was successful in finding somewhere to sleep for free!

I do confess to being a bit afraid of crossing mountains between here and the coast.  I don't think they are very high and I'm going the flattest possible way but still they are the tail end of the Alps which are some of the tallest in the world.  I have a vision of tiny twisty mountain roads.  It's probably not real but it's a formidable thought for that tiny twisty scooter!

There probably won't be enough progress today to encounter any mountains but definitely tomorrow and hopefully I will then make the coast.  There should be some photo opportunities at that point as it's not so much the tourist destination as the east coast because the beaches are rocky while the ones on the east coast are all white sand.  Cat tells me there are old villages on the coast and they could be very beautiful to see.

I'm becoming accustomed to no-one speaking English.  In Italy people will try some English if they know it but in France they won't speak any other language even if they do know it (laughs).  I ran into this once before in Quebec when the separatist movement was at its height but the only French I learned from it was 'le burger fromage' (a cheeseburger).  That will not serve particularly well now as I haven't the faintest interest in cheeseburgers!

The Map is updated with each stop.  It doesn't show the intended route as I still really don't know it except to make for the coast and then west into France where I can turn north toward England.  The whole purpose in this route is dodging mountains.  I would dearly love to visit Germany but crossing the Alps really would be suicidal.

Here we go again!  The progress each day is not so impressive but 70 kph is only about 40-45 mph!  Still, I'm making progress crossing Italy and in two more days I should make the coast.

Please do help if you can as the expense of this is very much more than I thought it would be.  Don't shoot me, I'm only the guitar player (laughs).

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