It was another PLAN A – PLAN B day. We left Laigueglia for an easy drive, less than 2 hours and mostly on 2 Autostradas. All went well until about 4 miles before the junction of the 2 Autostradas. There was a notice on the board, “A 6 closed, Accident, Seek alternative route.” 😳 EGAD, 4 miles to figure this out and 1 mile was in a tunnel when reading the map was impossible. But, being the good GPS that I am, chose what looked “doable” although it meant driving right through the heart of Savona, a busy port town of 62,000 people. Lucky for us, we found the Blue signs that pointed to Turin (Autostrada signs are Green)…..did not miss any turns, and continued on “red” road that parallels the Autostrada until we were allowed back on. This added 1 hour to our journey; 108 miles….3 hours. Found out later that a truck hauling logs had the accident but no one was hurt badly.
We arrived in Monforte and planned to have lunch before checking in at the hotel….1st place, closed on Tuesday….2nd place, same story….found someone to ask. All restaurants here closed on Tuesday. What???? But you can drive 5 minutes down this road for lunch. Turned out to be a new place run by a young man and lunch was very good. At the table in the photo there were 5 priests and 2 laymen….and they really enjoyed a huge lunch and lots of the great wines of the area. It almost sounds like it should be a joke…..”5 priests and 2 laymen walk into a restaurant…..”
At 3 PM we went to the hotel to check in……hotel closed on Tuesday. What???? A hotel closed???? A phone number on the door, but owner was inside cleaning and let us in. Just so interesting how things work and how flexible one must be. After all that, we went across the street to a bar and had a caffé. It was crowded with a few local people. The ladies that were next to us had left before I got the photo. It was also an Enoteca and we bought a bottle of Barbera d’Alba to take to our room. After tasting all the types of wines from this area, we like the Barbera best.
This is Monforte from our room.
NW Italy '14 