Day 3, 1/04/08: Crossing northern Italia. Bella Italia

Like i wrote, there was no time to waste going to Venice, so my goal for this day was to reach the Italian riviera. Must say, that this part of the country really impressed me, because it is visible that these are very dynamic regions economically, with a significant number of factories.

This day also proved to be the worst for the machine, because since i was going in national roads, crossing cities (therefore traffic lights) and with a lot of traffic, often there were periods of stop-and-go. After some 4 hours of this, i was feeling that the clutch was starting to be upset of being used so often. Time to stop for lunch, for another Big Mac (what else should i had choosen).

While i was eating, i watched something that still now, after some months, i cannot find an explanation for it. A Ferrari F50 enters the McDonalds parking, and a guy comes out of it and meets what it seemed his girlfriend for a lunch. Uhh, yeah, this guy really knows how to use his money to make a woman feel special. A guy with a Ferrari that goes to have lunch in McDonalds with a girlfriend, is like giving an Armani suit to an animal treater. Pretty, but completely out of context and useless. Without seeming too racist, i must say that the guy didnt looked at all Italian. Or at least his origins were from another country. It would be mental for a typical italian to do something like this. Honestly, that guy really looked like he lives in the car (meaning he spent all his money in buying a Ferrari)

After my stomach pit-stop, i decided to reconsider my track, in order to avoid all the traffic. I didnt mind if i was going to go in worst roads and take more time, but one thing i was sure. 6 more hours of stop-and-go traffic, i would just damage the car. Therefore, choosed to go by a mountain road. It didnt seemed that long, and for sure without much traffic. So after some two hours more on national roads, bye bye, Alps landscape.

This mountain road proved to be really tricky in some points, cause i was going like 40km/h in very narrow road, and with some steep ravines. Sometimes i was just thinking "please brakes, dont fail me now". They behaved bravelly. Other times, i got excited and imagined i was in some Rally stage of Monte Carlo, and wildly push the Fiat to astonishing 70km/h (in third gear) squeeeezing it. Finally i arrived already during the night to Genova. And wow, although it was dark, this looked like a city with a fantastic landscape. The city is in the end of a river valley, but the mountains are really close. In fact, nowadays, i could notice that the city is already in the mountains. And it was very interesting to see how the city grew in between this valley. I know i want to come back to Genova, just to see it during the day.