Oh my god, that's the Duomo

Or, driving in Italy, the pointy end.

 

Before I start this story, let me say that Cameron has done a fabulous job of driving here. We haven't gotten lost, hit anything/one, and only had 1 oh-my-goodness-that-person-is-overtaking-now incident, which was not his fault at all. Today, however, we reached new heights in how close you can get to a tourist attraction in a walled city.

 

In Pisa, on Day One with Millie, we managed to drive down the street directly parallel with the Piazza, and park in the closest car park to the tower available. This I termed Douglas-Savage driving, since I would have been content with wider streets, fewer pedestrians and cheaper parking. None the less, it was very convenient and it was still a great job by Cam.

 

Today we drove to Orvieto. In some ways the town is unusual, because you can park within the city walls (normally it's park outside and walk / transport in). So we set the Nokia to navigate it to our hotel. Which it did, although we took a wrong turn (GPS confusion), and decided to follow the parking signs (I hear you say, sensible).

 

So we are driving down narrow, cobblestoned streets that are edged with stone houses. In one particular point, the street narrows further and becomes one way (thankfully our way). After 100 m or so, it widens out again - and all I could say was, Oh my god, that's the Duomo. Because the street we drove down opened out just in front of the piazza where the Duomo is. Literally, we could have driven upto the front doors. It was in itself a Douglas-Savage moment - I even asked if we could get a little closer. So then we parked in the car park NEXT to the Piazza and Duomo. Of course!! I have made cameron take a picture, of course.

 

Sadly, Millie has now gone to her next customer, so there can be no more of these stories, but part of me is grateful. Emerging from a dark, medieval cobblestone street to be greeted by a colourful Catherdral is a shock that probably doesnàt need to be topped.

 

Vanessa