Before we get to East Grinstead, there's something more
important to talk about. I don't suppose you'll hear that sentence again. Precious and I had a falling out over the best way to cross the lake. Precious wanted to take it on and I thought the ferry more prudent. Precious bemoaned my lack of derring do (that's not what won us the war she said) and swore that she'd find someone who shared her sense of adventure. The result is as you see, Precious has made a new friend. It's all a little crowded, although Fabiana reckons the panniers are very comfortable. Guess who has to do the pedalling. I'm not entirely sure what to make of it, although Precious is not sharing a room with me tonight. It's a scandal.
Back to East Grinstead. It is twinned with Verbania. Verbania is an Italian town on the shores of Lago Maggiore and nestled amongst Alpine foothills. Instead of terraced housing, it has lakeside villas with terraces. Instead of a grimy london residue, it has a romantic mist. East Grinstead is solidly grounded in everyday town naming principles, Verbania sounds like it springs from C.S. Lewis' pen. All I can say is kudos to whichever East Grinstead officials managed to pull this off. One must assume that no-one from Verbania has ever been to East Grinstead.
Enough frippery, I chose to stop in Como today, mainly because I'm on holiday (getting lost in Varese, twice, didn't help - total progress 3.5 km in 45 minutes. Ye gods). However, it seems that my map reading skills have fallen out of sync with timing issues. I thought it was Monday. Oops. This makes Trieste a race against time. It ssems I have one more days hard ride. We'll see how far I get in my quest for Verona tomorrow - It's miles away!
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