There are things that didn’t really fit into the other posts.

1. The Alps. On our way there, on Saturday, we went via the motorway. It is noticeable here, that motorway lanes are much narrower than in the UK. As a result, the trucks sometimes have difficulty staying in lane. I am amazed that there aren’t more accidents. But that’s not really what I want to talk about.

The river Po runs across the top of Italy from the left to the right. It’s an important river with important cities and towns on the way. It has a huge, flat, wide area around it – and I mean totally flat and very, very wide. I don’t know whether it is a flood plain – but it’s certainly plain.

However, surrounding it on both sides (more or less) is hilly or mountainous territory. To the North are the Alps. From Milan we are heading South-West to Turin. In my head, because Turin seems closer to the Alps, we should be heading North – but we’re not. And yet, as we drive along the motorway, the Alps are always there, to our right and, as we approach Turin, the Alps curve in front of us, heading South.

It is quite beautiful, really. Some mountains already had snow on them. There is a peak, directly in front of us, behind Turin, that is taller than its surrounding mountains and very pointy. Of course, Turin Airport is one of the main airports to come to if you are going skiing in winter.

2. The hills to the East of Turin. Is where we stayed. Mountains are beautiful – at a distance. Hills, for me, however, are wonderful close up. It reminds me a little of Herefordshire. Except there are more of them and they tend to be higher. Oh, yes, and Italians built towns on the top. On the Saturday afternoon, on our way to the Abbey, we passed and stopped in some of the hill-top towns. It always seems a peculiar, Italian thing. Some are pretty. Some seem busy with shops and restaurants. Some are as dead as a doornail. Nearly always the road is as twisty as hell and sometimes, very steep.

In these hills and valleys, there are a lot of little woods and forests. A LOT of trees. I often feel like I want to stop and take a walk – but you need the dogs, really, for it to be really interesting.

3. Agriculture. On our way back to Milan on the Monday, we drove through more of the Po valley. I noticed two things. a) They don’t do hedges here. I miss hedges. I like the way hedges make things more interesting. I suppose they didn’t have the ‘enclosure’ thing we had in the UK. Not only are there no hedges but there are few walls either. And b), there are fields that seem to be ‘dug out’ or sunken. This is, probably, because this is, according to F, a great rice-growing area. As I said to him, I was never told, at school, that Italy grew rice. From my school days I would have ignorantly supposed that only Japan and China grew rice and that all the world’s rice came from them. The downside to producing rice would be mosquitoes in summer.

In general, it was a very agricultural area. I’m guessing that besides rice, a lot of wheat (for pasta and bread) is also grown here. But there are also lots of groups of trees (woods and forests). I wouldn’t say the Po valley is really pretty but it’s quite nice.

I still miss the hedges.

4. Driving. I do all the driving. F doesn’t really like driving very much. He is also a crap passenger, getting quite nervous, quite often. However, I was grateful that, one time, as I turned from one small lane to another small road, he reminded me that I am supposed to drive on the right. You’d think, after all these years and the many kilometres that I have driven, I wouldn’t still be driving on the left (but it only happens on small roads that are hardly big enough for cars to pass, thank goodness).

5. Cappuccino drinking. As everyone should know, one should NOT drink cappuccino after about 10.30 or 11 a.m. This is a shame because cappuccino is nice. If I am with people, I drink macchiato – espresso with a dash of milk foam so that I have some milk (otherwise, I have to have about 6 sugars). The one thing I love F for (amongst many things) is the fact that he will have a cappuccino at any time of the day and, so, I can join him. Really it’s because he doesn’t like espresso that much and always has it with water (cold) or milk (which he doesn’t drink and doesn’t really like apart from with espresso – he IS a bit strange, I suppose).

That’s all I can think of right now.

p.s. 6. Ladies on the road. I use the term ‘ladies’ advisedly. We would be driving along a fairly main road in the country and then, at the side of the road, sitting in a folding chair, apparently sunning herself, would be a lady. She would, invariably, have long hair and be dressed as if she were just going to, or returning from, a disco. Her skirt would be short and her top would leave a lot exposed. Sometimes, there would be a lady each side of the road.

It’s a part of Italy that I’ve never quite got used to. Moreover, my main thought was – ‘I wonder what they do in the winter?’

I only saw one car ‘driving away’ from one of these ladies. It sped away as if it didn’t want to be caught by me. I wonder why?