This is in Castel del Rio, Apennine mountain chain - stretching from north west (Alps), flowing south of Po, turning south towards Rome and onwards. Including an ice glacier an hour drive from Rome (which is hot climate). Couple of thousand large wolf population. Who knew...
You might remember my old friend at the gas station. He has hand washed our bikes every year. Lovely old couple making a sort of living from the gas station. Probably also from restoring/trading a big collection of old bikes and mopeds. This year - no more - in our usual sign language, italian body language and the few words I've learned he told me that the pressure washer can't do the work anymore and neither can he.
I've been in this town nine times, but never got around to visit the museum. This day was special. Local young man was stabbed to death the night before. Museum closed. Ok. Nicely dressed gentleman on the sidewalk outside asked if we wanted to see the museum. Yes, please, we replied. No problem, I'm the Mayor. Have the keys. Come on in.
I haven't much to tell about the photos, but the Gothic line is highlighted - first a bit south of this town and then a bit north. It took TIME to liberate Europe. The first two days of pushing up the Giogo pass - the US (and others?) convoy lost 3,000 men. Easy pickings for the well dug in German artillery. Ended with a troop of foot soldiers taking the hill at night.
Another thing I noticed was how rough and NON-precision everything looks. The display of guns is probably quite ordinary, but I was surprised of how small they are. The ones in the front are no larger than 4 inches.
German infirmary
The last climb to take the mountain pass
