2022 and all that

Cardiff to Rome – Day 5

We checked out of the hotel on Lake Como at 10 am after a leisurely breakfast and then spent a couple of hours making like the locals, i.e. sitting on a shady bench by the lake and watching the world go by.

Once we finally dragged ourselves away and set off at noon, the drive from Como to Zola Predosa near Bologna took about 4.5 hours. At least an hour of that was spent gridlocked on the motorway between Milan and Bologna watching the temperature gauge steadily climb to 40C. Luckily the car has good AC.

Crawling along the motorway under a pitiless sun

We ran from the cool car into Agriturismo Gaggioli, got settled into our rooms and snoozed until dinner – apart from a brief foray with Lottie into the baking heat before dinner. Everything looks and feels very different to my trip to the winery in November last year.

The restaurant was closed then and the owner rustled up a simple plate of cheese and ham. I was expecting something similar this time, so it came as a big surprise to be offered a fine dining experience. I should never have expected anything less in Italy’s foody heartland I suppose.

It was also great to drink the wines in the spot they were produced – a real zero kilometre experience.

The next morning I got up early for a walk before it got too hot. The hedgerows are limbering up for an late summer bonanza.

Small bitter yellow plums – we tried some in a very tart jam at breakfast.

Countryside around the agriturismo

Cardiff to Rome – Days 3 and 4

The drive from Colmar took six hours and went really well apart from the usual long wait to go through the San Gottardo tunnel.

Just about to leave Lake Como and the two-day stay has been everything I expected and more. I’d only ever been out of season, when the lake is a peaceful bolthole surrounded by snow-capped peaks. In summer it turns out to be equally laid-back, but with plenty to do for all ages.

We arrived in time to settle into our two bed apartment with lounge at the top of lakeside Hotel Risi, then Courtney popped over from Milan to join us for a couple of spritzes and a surprise announcement – she’s getting hitched in November!

She had to leave on the last train but just had time for a plate of gnocchi, leaving us to polish off our own excellent repast at leisure.

The following day, we caught the Como ferry and got off at Bellaggio for a taste of the high life.

Bellaggio was packed with tourists and a real transport hub with passenger and even car ferries setting off in all directions. It was incredibly hot – impossible to walk for any length of time without feeling faint.

We’re staying in Colico, right at the end of the lake

Once back in the calm of Colico, we collapsed for a few hours to rally ourselves for another excellent dinner with a view.

After dinner, we took Lottie for a long walk and discovered a few of Colico’s evening attractions.

Cooling off in the lake

Colico is on the Sentiero Valtellina cycle and footpath used by the Italian Olympic team and national football squad (Azzurri) for training

Ballo liscio on a giant custom-made dance floor

It’s going to be sad to leave. You can while away the day very happily watching people, ducks, children learning to sail in tiny dinghies and ferries arriving and leaving (when the man in the ticket office has to hastily don his trousers). That’s when you’re not eating, drinking, walking, swimming, dancing to cheesy music and generally having a proper taste of the Italian good life.

A clutch of tiny dinghies

Cardiff to Rome – Day 2

Had enough time in the morning for a (relatively) cool walk round Épernay and admire the landmarks of its USP: champagne!

Lottie was glad to have a walk in the cool too. As ever, she was on a mission to win friends and influence people.

We had a pretty good drive, especially through the pretty champagne-growing villages around Épernay, and arrived in Colmar by 3:30. It was a tad hot to venture forth straight away, so we hung around until 5.30

The Statue of Liberty’s creator, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, was a native of Colmar

It was very hot, but we heroically struggled to the prettiest Petit Venice area for a beer and the unmissable tarte flambée.

On the way back, we stumbled across an Alsace wine tasting stall and met a new friend from Mexico, Lola.

Next morning I got up early to take Lottie for a walk in the relative cool before leaving.

Cardiff to Rome – Day 1

Set off at the crack of dawn (well, 7 am) with my intrepid copilots Nicoletta Keeping and Carlotta (“Lottie”) Haydock.

Despite dire warnings of the end of humanity as we knew it, we made it to Folkestone in record time and checked Lottie in through the doggie customs.

Then followed an unprecedented (for me) delay of two hours before we were finally, gratefully allowed onto a train.

It was pretty hot, but we got out of the car and sat on the ventilation grilles during the 25 minute crossing. Before we knew it, we were in France and speeding south again.

After nearly three more hours of straightforward driving, we were at our destination: Épernay, aka home of champagne.

It was far too hot to do anything except stagger to the nearest brasserie. We did rally enough from the heat to manage a couple of dodgy liquers though.

The outlook for tomorrow is more driving, more heat and more hyperbole.

Day 23: Zurich to Leiden via Frankfurt

My first train to Frankfurt was at 7.59 so I got up at 6 to get Lottie some food and make sure I didn’t miss out on the hotel breakfast. Unfortunately the Migros store didn’t have dog food so Lottie had to make do with sardines. She couldn’t believe her luck.

I thought Lottie had got over her train nerves, but something about the Freccia Rossa ride from Lecce on Sunday triggered her stress again and she hasn’t enjoyed the last few journeys.

To calm her down and stretch my legs, I decided to do the 40 minute walk between Frankfurt Süd station (where we arrived from Zurich) and Frankfurt HBf station (from where the Utrecht train was departing), rather than take a connecting train.

Once on the Amsterdam train, it was another three and a half hour stretch to Utrecht, a quickly platform change and we were in Leiden after another 45 minutes on a train full of commuters.

Lottie and I have got pretty good at getting on and off trains. I’ve found that the best way is to extend her lead so she can be free to make an unfettered leap.

Sometimes there are up to four steep steps to negotiate and a big gap between train and platform. We’ve had a couple of near misses but neither of us has ended up on the track so far. Why does it have to be so difficult and how do less-abled people manage?

That wondrously rare thing: train floor and platform are level in Leiden

After leaving my bags at the hotel, which is a stone’s throw from the station, I set out to find dinner. I loved Leiden when I first visited it in my 20s and it hasn’t changed a bit.

From the smiling girl who gave me her seat on the commuter train, to the dog walkers who said hello and stopped to chat – the whole place is pervaded by a sense of cheery wholesomeness. And it’s so pretty with the canals, bicycles and picturesque buildings.

Technically my Interrail trip is ended as I’ve finished the ten allotted travel days. I still have an hour ride to the ferry and then a couple of train and underground trips to Cardiff.

The last few days from Lecce have been a slog as I’ve covered 1300 miles travelling north. If I didn’t have a dog, I’d probably have used sleepers more to cover the long distances at night.