Sixteen

A SPLASH OF RED WINE AND THE BEACH
Travel on the highway is swift and speed is maintained. Rarely there are road repairs and we are stopped for a few minutes. You have to be watchful of these sudden stops. There are no big surprises of stray dogs, cows or for that matter someone simply strolling across the road. And much respect for the road maintenance. 
Matina, true planner and navigator that she is is constantly was always on the Google Map. And since we are going to the beach, she even got a web cam shot of an empty beach. She is much excited because she is the true water baby of the group. I hate water, unless it is mixed with a drink or I have to hydrate myself....what's with all this dancing in the rain and stuff, I always wonder. 
From Assisi we crossed the Umbrian region to enter Florence. The landscape changed with distant misty mountains. On the highway were plots growing firs, date palms, flowers and the housing was a bit more friendlier with them looking more like flats. This must be the bread basket region for Italy. 
We stopped at an Autogrill for lunch. This is your essential Italian dhaba and has only few items on the menu, but they have a huge selection of drinks, including beers. And very clean toilets. 
This particular Autogrill was built connecting the two toll booths, like the good one we have after Guntur, maybe on the way to Visakhapatnam. There was a delicious looking salad, but with a dollop of salmon in the middle. The lady said she could not serve it to us without the salmon. Arrgh! So, M took it and I managed to take a spoonful of edamame out of it. Nice.... 
Could not eat much but had a delish Espresso. Dark clods gathered as we were entering Sestre Levante and there was a visible buzz in the vehicle for we had been sitting in for some time now. Bruno is the champion here. Driving like the stalwart that he is.  
Matina had booked us very close to the sea in a 150-year-old or somewhere there apartment. With two rooms, a huge hall with a sofa-cum-bed and a fairly decent kitchen. And only one bathroom, but by now we were getting used to not embarrass ourselves. But Julio, the owner assured us that he was planning to build one more bathroom. He was friendly and kept saying 'have a safe stay' and only when the first bed collapsed, we realised what he meant. ����������. Luckily it did not break. All the chairs were creaky and uncomfortable, but the view was incredible. The ceiling in the hall was a true frescoe. And in some of the huge wooden cupboards there was fine porcelain tea sets and wine glasses. 
After the Autogrill meal, we Indians had decided to eat at home, so Akhila and I went on a hunt of a little market. There were little fruit and vegetable shops run by Italian ladies. Incredible variety of berries and tomatoes and the cutest ever baby zucchinis still in their flowers. And Akhila dawdled near a shoe shop and I had to drag her away. This would have been her 18th pair, me thinks. 
But we found ourselves a Carre Foure, while Matina and Bruno went to the beach. 
After returning we made ourselves a very nice tomato rice, which could have been an expensive rissoto. Then we walked down the beach on the promenade with lots of benches and enjoyed the breezes so to speak. The cafes were still doing good business and we returned home to sleep, all knackered. 
In the morning we had Indian style breakfast of cheelas and went for a walk along the beach and looked in into busy cafes, tired shops, run by Bangladeshis.  While they recognised us as  Indians and asked us where we were from, they were wary. But they spoke fluent Italian and like our shop owner at Piacensa told us, he had been there for the past 30 odd years and he had managed to bring all his relatives and friends.   While they recognised us as  Indians and asked us where we were from, they were wary. But they spoke fluent Italian and like our shop owner at Piacensa told us, he had been there for the past 30 odd years and he had managed to bring all his relatives and friends. 
We returned from our walk to have a small home cooked meal finishing off leftovers. Matina and Bruno also joined us for a nice tomato soup, with fried croutons and small coin sized cheelas out of the left over mix. The secret to the deliciousness was a dash of wine and all of the left over butter. 
Tasty to banta hi, hai na? 

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