Bobbio punches above its weight. Not quite sure why UNESCO has passed it by. The Val Trebbia (Trebbia Valley) was described by Ernest Hemingway as the most beautiful in the world. The Monastery here (now a wee bit run down private property) was the basis of the design Umberto Eco used in the Name of the Rose. The Church dates from the 11 Century. And to top it all it is meant to be the backdrop for the Mona Lisa which Leonardo Da Vinci finished here.
It has excellent gelato.
My Jeremy Clarkson farming fix yesterday was good preparation for another agricultural day. The ploughed fields have huge clay sods. The hills we go up are also sods. They offer spectacular views of the valley below.
Tomorrow back to the coast we left a few days ago. Nice. No it’s Genova.
PS. The Bishop of Bobbio has a good ring to it. Opportunities for a stanza. “There was a young Bishop of Bobbio, who went looking for a jobio. He went to the Church, but got left in the lurch,; he talked too much Latin gobio”. I’ll work on it…..
Travelling reflections 