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May 6 - 7, 2008
MILAN, Italy
We enjoyed another very good few hours on the road in our Peugeot. ( This is a great car. ) We drove from Nice via Menton, Genova, Italy and on to Milan. The freeway trip was worth a few stops at some smaller towns off the main road to have a look at the coast and the scenery. We by-passed Monte Carlo as we have been there before.
This really is a beautiful part of the world !!! The cities and towns on the coast are all built in the small valleys in the mountains that go down into the ocean. Most have very little “ beach” and what they have is only rocks, but very beautiful. All along the coast are Green Houses in nearly all the places and small farms terraced into the hills. The road is amazing with viaduct followed by tunnel followed by viaduct followed by tunnel ( with the very odd piece of actual land that a road could be built on ). These guys know how to straighten out a road. Our road engineers in Canada and the U S A could take a few
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Menton, France lessons. Yes !! There are “ Tolls” but maybe that's the way it should be everywhere. User pays !!! The roads are great.
All along the way there are “Castles” and “Forts” on the hilltops. This has been a familiar sight from our travels through Spain, Southern France and now into Italy. Apparently it was a very good thing to have a castle. I'm sure the ones in Spain were once visited by Don Quixote de La Mancha on his steed Rocinante, and his faithful servant Sancho Panza on his ass Rucio. Maybe he made it into France and Italy as well on his quest as a Knight errant.
Leaving the coast and going towards Milan you leave the mountains and come into flat farmland in some big valleys with rice paddies, wheat fields and lots of canola crops. Quite a difference from the coast.
Milan is a very important city with alot of industry and is the center for the ”designer” business with all the famous brands here. The shopping for the girls is great if your looking for “high end” clothes, bags and shoes. Stuff for men too I guess.
We visited the Duomo
area in the center of town to see the sights, do some people watching, and have a look at the shops. We used the “ Metro” and it is very easy to use and reasonable.
On Wednesday we took a drive from the city to visit some “Outlet Shops”. Note: Don't travel without your passport with you !! We accidently went into Switzerland on our day trip and had a few questions to answer getting back into Italy. Another good day with lots to see and do.
Tomorrow we are off to Firenze ( Florence ) for a 3 night stay. We have been to Florence before for a day trip from Rome and are looking forward to a longer stay to get a better feel for the city and area.
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