Morning
Adam knocked on my door just as I woke to ask me for the gate remote. I found it in my shorts and gave it to him. He wanted to walk up to the old village of Diano Castello.
Both Maggi and I roused ourselves and prepared for breakfast, doing the chores like emptying the dishwasher and putting out the food and utensils people might need.
Adam returned exhausted. It turned out that the village has no bakery and all the churches hadn’t opened yet. But the only way up involved a really steep climb.
Shopping at Basko
After breakfast and a quick swim I drove Adam, Sarah and Islay to Basko, the local supermarket for today’s food and drinks.The place was already busy when we arrived with people out doing their weekly shop. The supermarket offered a good range at very affordable prices. After the shop we stayed on for a coffee in the cafe attached to the store. I bought 3 cappuccino and a croissant for €5.10. And very fine cappuccino they were.
Our landlord told us that Basko represented the local Lidl, but I thought the place much tidier than any Lidl I had visited and offered a much greater range of products. A true place for a weekly shop rather than somewhere for only cheap stuff.
On our journey round I encountered a couple pushing their trolley with a dog sitting in the middle. I asked then via sign language if I could take a picture of the dog shopping and they smiled and said yes. They seemed to be impressed that someone admired their dog. I just thought it a crazy thing that wouldn’t be allow in the UK.
Lunch and afternoon
I drove back and attached the Tesla to the house electricity to charge up. Turns out to be very slow. To go from 58% to 84% the app predicted I would need to wait 14 hours.
Late morning everyone except Maggi, Islay, myself and Adam drove to the beach. Adam returned to read. Maggi and I made the lunch.
Lunch over I returned to my room for my usual siesta, and very nice it was.
Evening
Ever since we arrived I had wanted to see what the promenade of Diano Marina had to offer. Most Italian seaside resorts have an active nightlife in the summer centred on the seafront.
It turned out that Adam didn’t want to give up on having a few evening drinks before heading to the beach. I remained the only soberish driver. With only five seats in the car I made 3 journeys from our villa to the town before stopping there and having a look around.
After the last trip I drove around for at least 15 minutes before I found a parking space and that ended more than 15 minutes walk from the coast. We could only shuffle along when we arrived at the promenade, it made Piccadilly Circus like a haven in the countryside.
Arcade games, hundreds of bars and restaurants jammed with people, young and old scattered around the road, pavement and promenade. The last group I brought consisted of Sarah, Adam and Islay miraculously bumped into the rest of our party as we made our way along the front.
By the time we met up with them some had had their fill of the crowd and wanted to go home. I wanted to see a bit more. We walked on and then turned back. i fitted an extra body on the return, Keir, Finn, Maggi Sadie and Carrie. We made our way back to the car, everyone moaning that I had parked it too far away.
I drove the first group back and then picked up the rest. As we entered the villa we could see the fireworks in the distance which probably explained why the promenade had been so busy. I had a quick shower and bed even though England played France in the 3/4 th place play off. England won 6-4.