GETTING TO FLORENCE ANOTHER ITALIAN NIGHTMARE

One thing you could say for Italy is that the public transport is always against persons with disabilities, M;andy noted that you hardly ever see a wheeelchair or mobility scooter , they just couldn't get away from home. There are no handrails for access to buildings, no slopes for wheelchairs, steps to every form of transport, big ones to boot. Getting tickets to Florence from  Bologna, sauce indeed, they wanted £100 for a day return for us, denied that you could do it on ordinary trains trying to flog eurostars etc. We eventually figured out the route which cost less than 25% of that, return. It was a dull damp day but the sun did make brief appearances, the tram terminates at the station so no problem finding them, very frequent and yes really low floor, it's a first. Ran smoothly, no landscaping or finishing, just rubble, mud etcd as when it was finished. Firsdt part of line so so then on to undeveloped area, terminates middle of nowhere like Sheffield Half way. When the sun appeared I dashed around tryinmg to get a few minuterw coverage of the city sights, mainly Americans getting ripped off with black umbrella sellers. Crowded in the extreme, not a pleasant experience but better than that grotty hole Parma. Lots of local and interurban buses near rail station, all easy to cover, 2 lotys of dd open top tourist buses. Scenic rides through alpine area, lots of tunnels, got back in good time, eating at hotel for the 5th time, too far out to get anything else, more tickets for Martin garnered and another thousand probably notched up, dreading the bill. Tomorrow forcast bad again, oh joy , my rest day by the pool has been destroyed. Roll on the plane home, wish we were leaving tomorrow morning.