Day 6 Pavia to Gaiola

Monday is a transport day, getting close to the Col de Maddalena for Tuesday.

Dani off to fieldwork in Oltrepo at 9, Charlotte has the morning off so we chat as I pack. Problems with the size of the wedding party are discussed - looks like we may have to sit this dance out. Left dear Charlotte at 11; a quick visit to a canal near her that was designed by Leonardo












Then hit the Motorways south-west to Busca to visit some friends of the Buckmaster family, Franca and Lino Garino.






Lino has known John for about 40 years, and the kids holidayed with the Garino's almost 20 years ago.





Spent a pleasant hour over coffee and chocolates; met grandson Amadeo, 4th class, to let him practice a little English. Then south towards Giaola and the Stiera Sports and Vacanza Villagio, to a 1-bedroom chalet that actually sleeps 3; they do canoe training and white-water rafting as well






I seem to have fried the GPS. Only 23 degrees running down the motorway and had the unit in the mapcase so I could try to read it and avoid misunderstandings. While the audio-only method works fairly well, having the visual cue as well would be much better. With the audio, I don't have a mental map of what I'm doing. Anyway, It went awol half-way to Stiera ; luckily I'd invested $60 in a backup system, a GPS that runs on the iPad, and does a very good job too, turn-by-turn instructions just like my $400 Garmin. But I've finally realised that both of them suffer from the problem of being too polite for my taste. When I make an error and traipse off down a wrong road, they recalculate and reroute me, but often in ways that take a lot longer and are more complex than simply turning back and fixing the error. So I guess it's up to me to turn back if possible.

Ho! The GPS has come good and is charging nicely tonight, so sometime soon I can compare the systems.
When I asked the receptionist (with toddler over shoulder) about a place to eat she said she'd book me into the Belsito in Borgo San Dalmazzo. Stiera may get a cut, but i'm happy to have someone solve the problem for me as we're really out in the boonies here

So it's 5 km to the Belsito, and it's a bit posh. Nevertheless I'm sitting down to Agnolotti stufed with leek and sausage with butter and sage (following my broad-bean mixed appetizer) to be followed by Baked red deer with red wine and mixed grilled vegetables -that's all off the English menu - the italian menu has twice as many choices, but I'm taking the easy way, and eating more than I needed, but hey, how often do I get to eat in Italy? Not again on this trip. The red deer is soft but dry, and a little olio fixes that.

Back to Stiera; have a wander and discover they have rapids at the bottom of their garden, and a snow-capped mountain upstream - the water is icy.



Air temp is 12 degrees at 9 PM, and the receptionist warned me that i might need the heater overnight. Prediction is 2 degrees

Location:Gaiola, Italy