Leaving Italy

Today was my last day in Italy. Rinaldo decided to drive to Nuremberg with me to join in the celebration of Bernhard's 50th birthday. Last night Rinaldo, Zaffira and I had a wonderful dinner at a little osteria in Udine (an osteria is sort of a cross between a bar and a restaurant). Most osteria don't have an extensive menu and there are usually only a few choices. This evening gnocchi was the starter, probably one of the best plates of gnocchi I have ever had! The second plate was a goulash which was also quite delicious. The final bill for the three of us, including plenty of wine was only 40 euros. It is definitely still possible to get a great meal in Italy for a very reasonable price.

Our trip to Nuremberg was quite smooth, at times approaching 200 km/hr on the Autobahn in Rinaldo's Audi Quattro turbo diesel. We had some minor traffic delays outside Munich and in the end the trip took about 6.5 hours. The nice weather we had in Italy for the last few has followed us to Germany.