Day 17: Drive to Verona
From Siena we headed for Verona via Bologna. A fair day’s drive but first we cut across the mountains to the factory outlet stores called
The Mall near the Autostrada at Leccio Reggello, SE of Florence.
I understand they run bus tours from Florence to here. In the Gucci outlet, +1 saw a nice handbag and discovered it had been reduced from EUR1,400 to a mere 800 – BARGAIN! Still there were plenty of Euros crossing the counter. Needless to say we didn't feel the need to buy one.
So we cut our visit short and headed to Bologna for lunch and a quick tour of the city. I wouldn’t go so far as to say grimy but it certainly was far less attractive than any other town we have visited so far.
A change of architect half way?
So after a quick walk around the main Piazza we continued onto Verona where we stayed at the Holiday Inn Verona Congress Centre. A fairly typical Holiday Inn, but right next to the exit from the Autostrada and the Regional highway into town, about a 15 minute drive. The Autostrada has a toll of 1-00 which is not much but the regional road is just as quick but perhaps a little less easy navigation-wise (remember the GPS).
Plenty of free parking here at the HI and there are some sort of discount outlets in the adjacent building, including an excellent discount shoe store; now how do I get all those shoes into my carry-on?