Pizza & Pasta

The first half of September was spent in sunny Italy which is the one place in the world where you would expect to find excellent Pizza & Pasta, unfortunately this is not so. 80% of the Pizza & Pasta meals we had were very poor and lacklustre, steer clear of these and the food category gains a few extra points.

We decided to pick a number of Italian cities and plot a route that joined the dots. We started in Naples which has crazy amounts of traffic but is quite relaxed and interesting to walk around. There are places with huge amounts of steps that slowly climb the hillside but a funicular railway is available if needed. A trip to the Amalfi Coast is a must if you like pretty coastal towns and beautiful scenery and do not miss the opportunity to climb Mt. Vesuvius.

Next on the tour is Rome & Vatican City, steeped in history, culture, architecture and art but consequently far too busy even in September with huge numbers of people everywhere and long queues wherever you go. There is lots to see and do in Rome but you are best making a plan in advance to make sure you can get tickets.

Then on to Florence which was our favourite place on this trip, more relaxed due to its smaller size where we could stroll aimlessly along the river, through the markets and explore the city. As we were only an hour away by train we couldn’t miss the opportunity to visit Pisa, see the sights, visit the cathedral and climb the tower. Being Mr Grumpy I did have two rules about visiting Pisa – firstly, no eating Pizza in Pisa and secondly absolutely no “Forced Perspective” photographs of the tower. These are both huge clichés which we were happy to avoid.

Finally we had a few days in Milan which is obviously a much bigger modern city, plenty of shopping and eating available here. Much less in the way of sight-seeing but you have to take a tour of the world famous Duomo Cathedral, we learnt so much from our tour guide and a walk along the roof top provides some unique views of the city. A day trip out to Lake Como, Italy and a stop in Lake Lugano, Switzerland provided a glimpse of the pre-Alps and their lakes and concluded our first visit to Italy.

The second half of September and we are back dog sitting in the Cotswolds, a beautiful area of the UK where we are very fortunate enough to spend over half our year visiting. We are currently in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire sitting an adorable and sweet old dog called Nya, she is such a wonderful soul and a joy to look after. Nailsworth is nestled in the Stroud Valleys and as such the scenery is outstanding with countless public footpaths winding through miles of amazing countryside, perfect for long dog walks between local pubs.

We are back to Somerset next week, another favourite county of ours…