My little adventure

We had friends for dinner last night and i decided that I would try to be Nigella.  Firstly I had to go to the big supermarket.  This is not a big deal I hear you cry.  Ah, well it was my first little outing alone in the car.  It was pretty easy to be fair, but Simon's car is a tank and doesn't fit through little gaps like mitsi used to.   I made curry, because as I've mentioned before, we are not in large supply of it here.  I used a jar for the main curry but I did make bombay potatoes and naan breads from scratch.  Domestic goddess.  

Having people over to eat was alot of fun, we all drank far to much and the evening ending in the usual style of us all around the piano in a cross between the von trapp family and a 1940s film.

Today I made Simon drive me around the hills of Verona.  We went to Soave and the Valpolicela.  I have to admit, the scenery was beautiful, but I really hate these hairpin bends.  I entertained Simon by making strange noise around each corner.  

At the very top we came across a family of donkeys which were so sweet and such posers!

TVR Trip Italy

I've begun to realise that in the days and weeks before Simon arrived here I used to write about all sorts of weird and wonderful events.  Now I write about cars.  Maybe I should rename the blog and call it Lindsayscaritalia??

Anyway.  Another car event to report upon!!!

We had a wonderful weekend away in Emilia Romagna and Tuscany.  It did involve cars, but don't be put off.

The TVR Italia club met on Saturday morning at the Pagani factory for a tour.  Now this was the highlight of my month.  I have been brainwashed by Simon into car love and for me the Zonda is the most ostentatious car there is and for that reason, I love it.  The factory was in an industrial estate and looked like "bob's autos".  The sign was rusty and you'd not notice it if your weren't looking.  We were expecting grandeur.  To be honest the cars were incredible, but the factory tour was awful.  My Italian remains terrible but I understood enough to realise that the guide was a complete and utter arse.  When a phone rang during the tour, I thought he was going to punch it's owner.   Suffice to say that the tour became a talking point for all of the wrong reasons.  By the way for those of you who are non car geeks.  The car in the picture (with me) is worth £600,000

For me the treat was the beautiful countryside.  Unfortunately we were on windy country lanes so I spent most of the time with my eyes shut but it was simply stunning.  The photos can't capture the scale of the mountains and the height.  They also fail to capture the 40c heat which was super fun when we have no air con.  

On the way home we found the waterfall.  It was actually running through a glacier and the air temperature was much cooler.  A real welcome break.   We also stopped at an agriturismo is Emilia Romagna for a 2 hour lunch where we ate fabulous food for next to nothing.

Raduno TVR Italia

1000 Miglia

I remember sitting with Simon at Christmas on the Isle of Wight, watching James Martin trying to complete the Mille Miglia.  It was an historic car race that went through Verona and other Northern Italian cities.  I was interested because I was already living in Verona and recognised things, and because the cars were really nice.  To be honest James Martin, TV chef, was the real reason to watch...he is hot!!

Anyway, since then, Simon and I have been waiting for the Mille Miglia to arrive in Verona.  And last week it finally did.  It was a real shame that Simon was in Russia on business!!!

Luckily for him, I quite like cars really and so does my friend Faye, so we decided to go and be official photographers.  It was incredible.  Firstly, Italy being as it is, there were no road blocks or barriers so you could literally touch the cars.  We had a great spot on Castelvecchio bridge.  Secondly, there was hardly anyone there to watch.  It was a bit of a non event.

There were hundreds of cars.  I took 349 photos in total and I didn't get home until 1,30am.  I was shattered the next day.  

Simon was pleased to see ALL of the photos and named almost every car.  He was really jealous, but glad I enjoyed it.

Florence

It was bank holiday on Friday so we took the opportunity to spend some time away from Verona.  Since the weather was lovely we went to Riva del Garda.  This is a town on the North of the Lake.  It was very different to the southern places that I have previously visited.  It was much more like a seaside town.  We were able to sit on the grass at the edge of the lake and enjoy the sun for a while.  We also found signs for a grotto waterfall.  We found it but you needed coats etc so we'll save that adventure for next time. 

Yesterday (Saturday) we went to Florence.  My love affair with Italy began here so it was great to go back.  It was so much busier than it was in October when I've been before.  The queue for the Duomo was ridiculous.  It was also really hot.  I love having a good camera but it is bloody heavy and gets on your nerves after a while.  We visited most of the tourist places including the Ponte Vecchio and the Piazza della Signora.  I would have liked to have climbed up the campanele to show SImon the views but it was too muggy and we were both feeling a bit lazy.  We came home and ate dinner on the balcony whilst watching an electric storm in the distance.

Today I have been reading my book on the balcony and sunbathing.  This is as they say, "the life"