Finally, we had a “normal” day here.

Took our sweet time getting out the door for a walk. Stopped in at the same bakery as the first day. The woman there seemed to remember us and insisted on adding a few things to our bag. We left with a large bag of various kinds of bread for €3. We walked around the area beyond Piazza Garibaldi finding lots of food shops, butchers etc.

We had a date to meet lovely Sarah and Tom for coffee at 11:00 at Bar Neo. Well, of course, we didn’t know where it was and it was fun finding it. Google maps did not know of the place because it is very new. I asked two nice men in the street and they also didn’t know it and insisted on using their google maps. Meanwhile Sarah messaged me on WhatsApp (which has become invaluable this trip) and so we knew just where to go but the two men were insistent that I wait until they figured it out. The place is right on Piazza Garibaldi. Here’s a quick shot of Ken and Tom but notice the gorgeous mountains in the background:

We sat and talked for a long time, enjoying the company of such interesting and like minded folks.

Lunch was just lots of bread and cheese–finishing up whatever we had in the fridge.

After a nice rest, we went on a little nature walk, under the bridge. There were plenty of blooming wildflowers most of which were familiar looking. I spoke briefly to two women who were foraging stinging nettles, ortiche in Italian. After you boil them they no longer sting and are a delicious green vegetable. Here’s a bunch of “nature shots.”

We came back to the apartment and had nice FaceTime calls our kids and especially Sulli. We had some groceries left over and I saw a bunch of curry spices in the cabinet, so with all that stuff I made a semblance of chicken curry. It wasn’t too bad!

I hope this was the last day we will see temperatures in the 30’s. I’m ready to pack away my black puffy coat.

On to Bologna tomorrow.