The Journey to the Castle

I went to get the car this morning after not paying for parking again. Are the small town Italian police lazy about issuing parking tickets (I would be) or are rental cars somehow immune to parking fees? I half-worry that somehow it’s all automated and since I can’t really read most of the signs, I’ll get a huge bill to pay as I’m leaving the country.

Nancy makes a comment regarding how nice the autostrade are on our 2 hours journey to Sinio. I’m thinking the same things as I glance down at the toll ticket on the console that we picked up about an hour ago. When we approach the pay booth for the toll ticket, I think, “Now we find out how the really nice highways are paid for.” €5.90. Not too bad, considering tolls have been €1-2 so far for much shorter jaunts.

Along the way, we stop at a gas station and get a slice of pizza to go. Sadly, this is the best pizza that we’ve had so far, and probably the cheapest. Topped with arugula, it has a nice sauce and a decently crisp crust. Maybe the pizza gets better as we go south.

We arrive at the castle on the wettest day of the trip so far. The sun is threatening to break free of the clouds tyranny, but so far their hold is strong. The castle is as picturesque as the brochures & website indicate. It’s owned by a couple from San Francisco and it’s been renovated over the course of seven years. We’re greeted by one of the owners, James. He familiarizes us with a few things and after about 15 minutes we get our key and head upstairs to our chamber.

We drop everything off and head out to explore the town… which, it turns out, is not so big. That out of the way, we decide to head off and explore the Barolo region…