Next morning we drove a little south to see Castel del Monte. This unique castle was build by Emperor Fredrick in the shape of an octagon. It served no defensive purpose but seems to have been a purely aesthetic building. It has been heavily restored and was very interesting to look inside where there were several art exhibitions.
We dropped down to the coast at Trani and then headed north. We followed the coast through large groves of olive trees to the Gargano Peninsular. This is a forested area surrounded by cliffs and sandy coves that juts out into the Adriatic Sea. We stayed the night at Vieste on tip and completed the drive around the edge on the next day. The forest had beautiful beech trees and the white cliffs formed a scenic backdrop to the many beaches.
We had wanted to visit Bologna for some time so we stopped off on our way back north. Despite the cold and fog we liked the city – it has a well preserved core that is mainly restricted to public transport and bicycles. There are many interesting buildings and some very good food and coffee. We had some delicious hand made pasta for dinner and the next morning started our day with one of the best coffees I have had in Italy at Café Aroma. Our next stop was Modena – a town that is just off the highway back towards Milan. It is famous for being the home of Ferrari and balsamic vinegar but also has some interesting buildings. The cathedral in particular was excellent – one of the most interesting buildings I have seen in Italy. We stopped for the night in Pavia, just south of Milan. Pavia only seems to have a few restaurants – one was booked out and everyone else was trying to get into the remaining pizzeria. We joined the queue and after a 90 minute wait we finally got a table. The next morning we drove into Milan, dropped Ged at the train station and cleared our storage unit.
I was a bit sad to leave Milan – at times the pollution and traffic got to me but overall it was a great experience to live there. There was so much life and character on the streets you really felt part of the city. With few tourists and plenty of industry it felt a very purposeful city that has a distinctive style from the rest of Italy. It helped a lot that everyone was very friendly to us despite the size of the town and our dodgy Italian.
I’m leaving with a great appreciation of Italy and Italians. They have a love of the finer things in life (food, wine, friends, family and style) while still getting other lower priority things done eventually. In the international newspapers a few months ago they were running a story about how China’s GDP will overtake Italy’s next year. The business journalists were spinning this as evidence of Italy’s failing economy. For me it was news that a country that makes sure to start the day with good coffee, then has a nice wine with a great cooked lunch and then meets friends and family for a long dinner has the same GDP as China. Perhaps Italy is falling behind but I know which country I would rather work in.
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