In fact , Gail had not done her computer work the previous evening and we decided instead to have dinner at a superb organic food restaurant serving very high quality fare in a lovely atmosphere.
After breakfast we head off to Europcar to check out our 21 day car rental, deciding to delay the pick-up time until 3.00 pm. ( in true Italian style they take a siesta from 12.45 till 3.00. Gail on computer for some time back at hotel, after which we do our overdue walking tour of Bologna.
Bologna has some wonderful buildings and magnificent arcades and porticos but we are left with the feeling that there is no real pride in the city. Graffiti abounds ( or should it be abound? ) and many of the streets and alleys are quite simply disgustingly dirty. A teacher would comment “ could do better”.
One highlight was, however, a visit to La Sorbetteria Castiglione, which has been voted the best gelateria in Italy by the Concorso Internazionale di Gelaterie. Fantastic selection and quality.
Collect car from Europcar and delighted to find that we have a BMW 120D with only 249 kms on the clock. Gail at first thinks the guy at the counter is joking as we have booked merely a compact vehicle. Whilst the BMW is certainly compact it is a great little car with plenty under the bonnet, especially in the lower gear range.
Drive down to Urbino uneventful until we get closer to the Agriturismo and Gail starts to doubt Tom Tom. After going round in circles with a map lacking in detail we ( read Gail )decide that he is after all a man to be trusted and we arrive at Pietra Rosa Agriturismo by 6.40 pm. The owners Jenny ( real Italian name Grazia ) and husband Mauro are delightful people and the B and B is in the most spectacular position high above a valley. Their dog, Baoli ( a Chinese name of unknown origin) takes a dislike to both of us but after trying to chew off one of my fingers and having a go at Gail’s legs ( obviously a canine with no taste as I think that she posseses some very nice pins ) he settles down to being merely somewhat on the nose.
Jenny speaks excellent English but I am able to practice my inadequate Italian on Mauro.
They prepare an excellent dinner with home produce, although Mauro burns his special sausages on the first attempt and the whole meal is washed down with a very tasty red from Moltepulciano. As his very rich sausages prove too much for my notoriously fragile digestive system it would perhaps have been better if he had set the whole kitchen on fire!
In bed at a respectable hour to allow our still sore limbs more time to recover.
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