The next day was Thursday, and Wednesday's clouds made come true what the weather forecast had already told us: It was day of almost non-stop rain.
When we got up and opened our patio doors, this was what we found:
It did not get much better by the time we were ready for breakfast:
But it stopped long enough to allow for a quick stroll through town to find the weekly market, where we were hoping to find some souvenirs in the shape of salami, cheese and other specialties, for ourselves as well as for those back home.
It was a little disappointing; the Thursday market is VERY small, and by the time we'd found it in the maze of alleys and narrow cobbled streets, the rain started again.
We decided to leave it at that, and went to treat ourselves to a bag of sweet delights from a pasticceria.
Later in the afternoon, we set off by car to drive back along the valley of the Cannobino river. In one of our guide books, I had read about a remote village, Crealla, where no driveable road lead to until 2007. It was described as a uniquely charming, rustic place, and I really wanted to see it.
But...
...once we were in the car and the narrow, curvy road began to wind up and down, back and forth along the steep river valley, my tummy (or, rather, its contents of sweets with butter cream and chocolate...) did not agree! I felt so sick O.K. had to stop the car a few times for me to get out, breathe some fresh air and calm down.
Strangely enough, I did not do the obvious and get rid of what was bothering me. Instead, I broke into a cold sweat and my hands felt all numb and prickly at the same time. Believe me, it wasn't fun - and at the same time I felt thoroughly embarrassed, and so sorry for having induced O.K. to drive all the way to that village, only to have him drive back in the pouring rain, without even having set foot in the village itself.
As soon as the motion of the car stopped, I felt better, and by dinner time, I was ready for a proper meal again.
The rainy day was over. Tomorrow was going to be better.
I'm sorry it was such a bad day- I wouldn't have thought Italy would have had such bad weather but I think sometimes one can be on the wrong side of mountains and get a lot of bad weather. Yes, mountain roads can be surprisingly hard to deal with if you have even a tendency to motion sickness. (I felt thoroughly ill after driving in Corsica for a couple of hours, in case you ever felt like going there). I hope that things cheered up the next day for you.
ReplyDeleteThey did, Jenny, and I still found that trip into the valley interesting. To imagine how people used to live there until only a few decades ago, especially in winter, when even the mule paths would have become impassable with snow.
DeleteSo sorry for all the rain and your upset stomach - though it sounds like more than just that....Hoping that the next day was glorious again.
ReplyDeleteThat was the funny thing, I did not feel queasy in the way I would before having to throw up. It was more as if I was going to faint if I was not concentrating very hard.
DeleteBut I felt completely fine again immediately afterwards.
Ah, motion sickness, I know all about it!
ReplyDeleteDriving, I am okay but if I am a passenger, I have to be very careful. I can only look straight ahead and if on a curvy road, the driver must go very slowly! Richard says he has to drive as if he has eggs in the car!
Well, I had no trouble at all on the ship the day before, and that one was certainly moving around, too! Also, I am really OK on planes and buses and in cars generally; it was just an extremely curvy, narrow, steep road and probably in combination with the butter cream didn't agree with me!
DeleteRichard has the drive as if he has his most precious treasure in the car - and he has - you!!
Sorry your wet day was also spoiled by those rich delicacies from the pasticerria! I stayed mostly with lemon granite and gelato for refreshing snacks ashore as it was so hot. Yes, not a drop of rain our entire trip, however a couple of nights at sea were a little rough - fortunately I never suffer with seasickness!
ReplyDeleteMeike - I spent a long time yesterday reading your old posts of your Sicily adventure long ago, and must say thoroughly enjoyed it all. You saw many of the same places we visited - I loved how you and Brigitte really made the trip an adventure and was glad those handsome Italian males behaved themselves, haha!
Mary -
Thank you for reading my old Sicily posts, Mary! Granita is indeed very refreshing, but I haven't had one in a long time. The Granita man used to drive round the village where I spent every summer, calling out at the top of his voice, and people (mostly kids, but not exclusively) would come running to buy some.
DeleteOh dear Meike I have only ever been ill as a passenger once in a car about 35 years ago (the driver was a maniac and the roads were both windy and rough). I can remember it to this day (it was that bad and that unusual) and I can truly sympathise with you even though O.K. obviously wouldn't have been driving like that.
ReplyDeleteI still don't understand the whole incident myself and can only guess it was a combination of the sweets I'd had shortly before leaving and the relentless curves and up-and-down of the roads. O.K. drove carefully, since very often we had no way of knowing whether another car was coming our way or not.
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