The last few days in Orbetello have been spent on the beach while we discussed what we should do next. In the end, we decided to end the bicycle trip early due to lack of bicycle friendly roads and our lack of desire to bicycle along the spine of Italy in order to go further south. It was a hard decision, but easy in the end.
Our options were to either navigate around the busy road, which basically acted as a wall preventing us any easy route south, and instead riding over mountain over mountain the entire way south. That didn't sound too fun.
Another option we discussed was to take a ferry to elba island and explore that area. But, after a week camping on the coast we felt we needed to get off the beach and back into civilization. So our last option, which we decided was the best, was to travel to Vienna and explore Austria for the next ten days until we come back to Florence.
So as we type this, we are back in Florence and waiting for our night train to Vienna.
The last few days in Orbetello were great. We rode into town everyday, which was nice because there was a bike path from the main road near our campsite that continued over the landbridge to the city and then through town, ending at the train station. When we weren't exploring the town we would spend the extra hours on the beach. Then we would need a nap from all the strenuous laying down at the beach. We agree that this is our favorite place so far since we are camping at a decent place with a close walk to the beach. The beach was very nice and the water was beautiful. Also, we liked the short ride into town, which was big enough and yet small enough so that we recognized many of the same people by our third day.
Luck had it, that our second day in town was the third annual palio in the lagoon. This was a contest between 5 teams from the area who raced each other in the lagoon in large boats. Of course the race was preceded by a parade through town , including a renaissance procession!
We promise many pictures for our next post, but for now we are off to the train station.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
To the coast and back, and to the coast again.
The morning we left Siena we were excited to get to the coast. The first few hours were a struggle. We rode past thousands of sunflowers and olive trees. One could swear there are no flat roads in Tuscany. After a long climb up the mountains, we enjoyed a glorious 25-mile-long decent to the coast town of Follonica. AnneMarie was so excited to see the Sea she wooped for joy, and even the first flat tire of the trip couldn't dampen the excitement.
Follonica was a neat town, there was a lot going on, and we were just happy to see civilization. We had a perfect pizza and birra morretti dinner and walked back to the tent.
The next day we rode down the coast to a campsite Dino stayed at last year. It was huge and had its own private beach where we were able to swim and get out of the heat.
Yesterday we rode from north of Grossetto to just north of Orbettello. A distance that would be around 20 miles down the coast, but thanks to the fact that there are no bicycle worthy roads along the coast, it took us 60 miles and back into the hills. The ride was up a long slow hill that led us to a hill town called montiano. We ate lunch on a bench infront of the cemetary and then coasted down the hill while appreciating the beautiful landscape. Along the way we saw strange cactai, many vineyards and villas, sheep resting in the shade of pine trees, and dino ran over a lizard.
Once we got back near the coast we started to see tomatos on the road. Then we began to smell pizza. As we finally got closer we found a large crop of tomatos being harvested, which put us in the mood for another pizza dinner. (Tonight will be the 5th night of pizza in a row)
Today we bicycled around Argento island to arrive at Orbatello. The island is connected by three landbridges allowing all the Italians to get on the nice island beaches.
Thanks to another flat tire, AnneMarie had to ride on the rack of a nice young italian's bicycle into town where she was treated to a granite and pizza. Our situation as it stands now is that we have to wait until the bicycle shop opens on monday to buy a new tube. So we have decided to join the party on the beach for the next few days. Also, our discovery that the only road that goes to where we want to go is the equivalent of I-5 without a shoulder is resulting in us reworking our itinerary.
But for now we will just spend this time on the Tyranean beaches working on our tans. Where we will go next is still undecided.
Follonica was a neat town, there was a lot going on, and we were just happy to see civilization. We had a perfect pizza and birra morretti dinner and walked back to the tent.
The next day we rode down the coast to a campsite Dino stayed at last year. It was huge and had its own private beach where we were able to swim and get out of the heat.
Yesterday we rode from north of Grossetto to just north of Orbettello. A distance that would be around 20 miles down the coast, but thanks to the fact that there are no bicycle worthy roads along the coast, it took us 60 miles and back into the hills. The ride was up a long slow hill that led us to a hill town called montiano. We ate lunch on a bench infront of the cemetary and then coasted down the hill while appreciating the beautiful landscape. Along the way we saw strange cactai, many vineyards and villas, sheep resting in the shade of pine trees, and dino ran over a lizard.
Once we got back near the coast we started to see tomatos on the road. Then we began to smell pizza. As we finally got closer we found a large crop of tomatos being harvested, which put us in the mood for another pizza dinner. (Tonight will be the 5th night of pizza in a row)
Today we bicycled around Argento island to arrive at Orbatello. The island is connected by three landbridges allowing all the Italians to get on the nice island beaches.
Thanks to another flat tire, AnneMarie had to ride on the rack of a nice young italian's bicycle into town where she was treated to a granite and pizza. Our situation as it stands now is that we have to wait until the bicycle shop opens on monday to buy a new tube. So we have decided to join the party on the beach for the next few days. Also, our discovery that the only road that goes to where we want to go is the equivalent of I-5 without a shoulder is resulting in us reworking our itinerary.
But for now we will just spend this time on the Tyranean beaches working on our tans. Where we will go next is still undecided.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Ravenna to Siena
During our 2 night stay in Ravenna we toured the famous Byzantine churches and the intricate mosaics that decorate them. We bought a combo ticket that let us into 5 different museums and churches. AnneMarie liked the mosaics so much she has decided to devote the rest of her life to creating mosaics.
After an entire day spent inside the churches and museums we decided that we should atleast dip our feet in the Adriatic sea since we were only about 5 miles away from the coast. As we arrived at a beach named after dante we discovered where the shopkeepers have been hiding all summer. They were soaking up the rays at the beach!
The beach was perfect. The day before it had rained and thundered all evening and it must have scared some of the beach goers away because when we got there in the morning we easily found a place to set up our towel. We left the beach and the bicycle friendly streets of Ravenna to go back west to bologna just as the beach started to become overcrowded and too hot.
Our arrival in Bologna was meant to be just a short stay as we had planned to use the train to cross the mountains. But we soon realized that we wanted to spend a little more time in bologna.
For starters, our campsite was a 15 minute bike ride from the city center, there was a pool, very nice facilities, and the city of Bologna was just too awesome to ignore.
And it turned out that our decision to stay in Bologna couldn't have been better.
We started our first day in Bologna at the Museum of Modern art of Bologna (MaMBo). We found out that all state museums in Bologna were free this day(gratis!), which was a surprise because they all seemed empty. The Modern art Museum was a nice change from all of the Medival and Renaissance Art we had been chewing on. Next, we went to the Signoria building of Bologna. Before we enetered AnneMarie needed to rest a little on these comfortable couches.
Here is a list of what we liked about Bologna:
Bicycling on the wide streets with little car traffic
Lemon granite from Grom
gothic towers
shopping
camping so close to the city
spicy vegetarian burgers at an irish pub (that were neither spicy nor vegetarian)
free museum day
racing a truck (Dino won)
We began our next day as planned, waking up at 5:30 to take the only train with bicycle service to florence. On the way to the train we had to cross 3 sets of abandoned train tracks in early morning light. Dino only made it past two. It turns out that the fall, as gracefull as it was, was in the end what cost us to miss our train. We limped to the correct platform just in time for the train to close its doors and leave us behind.
The injured toe:
After some moments of frustration, Dino hatched a plan to get us and our bicycles to Florence. Our next few hours consisted of decoding the italian train system in order to arrive in sienna. It turned out that they were even confusing to the italians as well. Lets just say that it takes a lot of effort and manuevering to transport ourselves with our loaded bikes, but we managed to do it with near perfection.
We ended our day with some luck in finding a great hostel in siena, which had originally turned out to be fully booked but in the time between walking from the front desk to our bicycles we were greeted with a "ragazzi" and beds for 2 nights.
(Locking up the horses)
Today we explored Siena. We bought another combo ticket that got us in the doors of 6 different museums and churches. We particularly enjoyed the floors of the Duomo which were uncovered and we also studied Duccio's paintings inside the Duomo museum.
Although, sadly, Michaelangelo's sculptures were under restoration. Despite a bum toe, the only injury Dino suffered from the crash, we climbed to the top of what was to be the nave of the church for a grand view of Siena and the surrounding Tuscan hills.
Tonight we will enjoy some nice Montepulciano wine and tomorrow we bicycle to the coast.
After an entire day spent inside the churches and museums we decided that we should atleast dip our feet in the Adriatic sea since we were only about 5 miles away from the coast. As we arrived at a beach named after dante we discovered where the shopkeepers have been hiding all summer. They were soaking up the rays at the beach!
The beach was perfect. The day before it had rained and thundered all evening and it must have scared some of the beach goers away because when we got there in the morning we easily found a place to set up our towel. We left the beach and the bicycle friendly streets of Ravenna to go back west to bologna just as the beach started to become overcrowded and too hot.
Our arrival in Bologna was meant to be just a short stay as we had planned to use the train to cross the mountains. But we soon realized that we wanted to spend a little more time in bologna.
For starters, our campsite was a 15 minute bike ride from the city center, there was a pool, very nice facilities, and the city of Bologna was just too awesome to ignore.
And it turned out that our decision to stay in Bologna couldn't have been better.
We started our first day in Bologna at the Museum of Modern art of Bologna (MaMBo). We found out that all state museums in Bologna were free this day(gratis!), which was a surprise because they all seemed empty. The Modern art Museum was a nice change from all of the Medival and Renaissance Art we had been chewing on. Next, we went to the Signoria building of Bologna. Before we enetered AnneMarie needed to rest a little on these comfortable couches.
Here is a list of what we liked about Bologna:
Bicycling on the wide streets with little car traffic
Lemon granite from Grom
gothic towers
shopping
camping so close to the city
spicy vegetarian burgers at an irish pub (that were neither spicy nor vegetarian)
free museum day
racing a truck (Dino won)
The injured toe:
After some moments of frustration, Dino hatched a plan to get us and our bicycles to Florence. Our next few hours consisted of decoding the italian train system in order to arrive in sienna. It turned out that they were even confusing to the italians as well. Lets just say that it takes a lot of effort and manuevering to transport ourselves with our loaded bikes, but we managed to do it with near perfection.
We ended our day with some luck in finding a great hostel in siena, which had originally turned out to be fully booked but in the time between walking from the front desk to our bicycles we were greeted with a "ragazzi" and beds for 2 nights.
(Locking up the horses)
Today we explored Siena. We bought another combo ticket that got us in the doors of 6 different museums and churches. We particularly enjoyed the floors of the Duomo which were uncovered and we also studied Duccio's paintings inside the Duomo museum.
Although, sadly, Michaelangelo's sculptures were under restoration. Despite a bum toe, the only injury Dino suffered from the crash, we climbed to the top of what was to be the nave of the church for a grand view of Siena and the surrounding Tuscan hills.
Tonight we will enjoy some nice Montepulciano wine and tomorrow we bicycle to the coast.
Friday, August 15, 2008
The Rainbow Road to Ravenna
Verona was a nice break from bicycling and sweating in the sun. Some of the things we saw were: Juliet's house(not the real one according to rick), the Scala family tombs and palace, as well as a whale rib bone hanging from an arch that fell on dino(the legend is that if someone who has never told a lie walks under it it will fall).
Here is a little taste of verona for you shakespearian officianados out there.
The rib bone that fell on Dino.
We couldnt say, but we left anyways, around 7 in the morning. We rode along the southern part of the lake for awhile and then headed south at Pesciara. There is a bicycle path along the River Po and we followed that to Mantova. It is part of a bicycle path connecting all of Europe, the Eurovelo. It took us by castels and old towns with men fishing all along the way. There were several bicyclists, and some even with bags bigger than ours! The weather was nice and cool and we arrived in Mantova around noon. We had lunch at a cafe outside the Pallazo Gonzaga, had gelato, and then were back on the road.
It took us forever to find the Eurovelo connecting Mantova to Ferrara. It felt like we were riding in circles looking for it and when we finally found it (way out of town next to abandoned buildings) It was a rocky road. We were sweating so much we couldnt put sunscreen on it was sooooo hot. We road the eurovelo for a long time. so long it felt like the rainbow road from mario cart. we biked and biked, determined to make it to ferrara.
The sun went down, we had only eaten a little trail mix since lunch. We were covered in sweat, dust, and dead bugs. We had had enough when it was getting hard to see and it just felt like bugs were flying into your face. We decided to camp along the eurovelo and dino found a wonderful campsite in a bird sanctuary. We had covered 105 miles, the furthest either of us had ever rode in one day.
This morning we woke up early and had a big breakfast in Ferrara. We then rode to Ravenna, it was another long day with tempertures up to 36 °C!!. On the way we had an interesting encounter with an italian bicyclist. First he rode up next to us and asked where we were going. He spoke English which was nice but he kept riding along side of us and not saying much. I told him we had been at Garda lake the day before and we wanted to make it to Sicily. Then he started laughing really loud, made a drinking hand gesture, and then left us in his dust.
We finally made it to a hostel rick steves suggested. We will stay here for two nights so we can see famous byzantine mosaics and we are still trying to decide what to do next.
Here is a little taste of verona for you shakespearian officianados out there.
The rib bone that fell on Dino.
Here is the wall of Juliet's house.
Some people just don't have any respect for history.
AnneMarie being inappropriate with a statue of Juliet. I told her not to do it, but she wouldn't listen. 
Dino making himself comfortable.
We couldnt say, but we left anyways, around 7 in the morning. We rode along the southern part of the lake for awhile and then headed south at Pesciara. There is a bicycle path along the River Po and we followed that to Mantova. It is part of a bicycle path connecting all of Europe, the Eurovelo. It took us by castels and old towns with men fishing all along the way. There were several bicyclists, and some even with bags bigger than ours! The weather was nice and cool and we arrived in Mantova around noon. We had lunch at a cafe outside the Pallazo Gonzaga, had gelato, and then were back on the road.It took us forever to find the Eurovelo connecting Mantova to Ferrara. It felt like we were riding in circles looking for it and when we finally found it (way out of town next to abandoned buildings) It was a rocky road. We were sweating so much we couldnt put sunscreen on it was sooooo hot. We road the eurovelo for a long time. so long it felt like the rainbow road from mario cart. we biked and biked, determined to make it to ferrara.
The sun went down, we had only eaten a little trail mix since lunch. We were covered in sweat, dust, and dead bugs. We had had enough when it was getting hard to see and it just felt like bugs were flying into your face. We decided to camp along the eurovelo and dino found a wonderful campsite in a bird sanctuary. We had covered 105 miles, the furthest either of us had ever rode in one day.This morning we woke up early and had a big breakfast in Ferrara. We then rode to Ravenna, it was another long day with tempertures up to 36 °C!!. On the way we had an interesting encounter with an italian bicyclist. First he rode up next to us and asked where we were going. He spoke English which was nice but he kept riding along side of us and not saying much. I told him we had been at Garda lake the day before and we wanted to make it to Sicily. Then he started laughing really loud, made a drinking hand gesture, and then left us in his dust.
We finally made it to a hostel rick steves suggested. We will stay here for two nights so we can see famous byzantine mosaics and we are still trying to decide what to do next.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Tutto bene in Garda
A quick post.
we decided to spend two nights at garda lake! When we first arrived yesterday we could see the lake from a castle we decided to ride by. People actually live in the castle, i am jealous! There was a very nice couple visiting the castle as well, they were checking our bikes out and then the woman told me I had bike oil all over my leg. They thought we were german but we they let us practice our italian on them. (Most people just look at us funny, like we are carrying a lot of bags and have grease all over our legs)
When we found our campsite we put up the tent and ran into the lake for a swim, it was amazing after such a hot day.
Since we had today off we rode our bikes to a nearby town where there was a huge market in the streets. Unfourtunately, we cannot shop because we are looking for things to dump off our bikes, not carry more! We found the train station and rode into verona. We are having a lot of fun and seeing a lot of things in town. more to follow... plus pictures.
we decided to spend two nights at garda lake! When we first arrived yesterday we could see the lake from a castle we decided to ride by. People actually live in the castle, i am jealous! There was a very nice couple visiting the castle as well, they were checking our bikes out and then the woman told me I had bike oil all over my leg. They thought we were german but we they let us practice our italian on them. (Most people just look at us funny, like we are carrying a lot of bags and have grease all over our legs)
When we found our campsite we put up the tent and ran into the lake for a swim, it was amazing after such a hot day.
Since we had today off we rode our bikes to a nearby town where there was a huge market in the streets. Unfourtunately, we cannot shop because we are looking for things to dump off our bikes, not carry more! We found the train station and rode into verona. We are having a lot of fun and seeing a lot of things in town. more to follow... plus pictures.
Monday, August 11, 2008
the longest mile, the bluest lake
Yesterday we left our hotel at 5:30 in the morning to get out of the city before it was busy. It was truly a labyrinth because the smaller streeets that we wanted to stay on only lasted 4 or 5 blocks. It took over 2 hours, but we made it out of the city and watched the sunrise on the way.
the smaller towns outside of milan took us on an adventure, we were once riding through a saturday market being set up with more than two cheese stands, and one time a bike path led us to ikea and left us lost in the parking lot! avery nice man from a hardware store talked to us and helped us navigate out.
further up north we started climbing the mountains that were only a distant view earlier in the day. this is were we started seeing TONs of bikers, all dressed up in fancy jerseys and on nice bikes. we think some of them may have been on teams because they all matched.
we followed most of them up hills and more hills until we were the only ones climbing the steepest hill i have ever seen. for 1 mile is was straight up, they didnàt even give us switch backs, just slight turns in the road where we were given hope that the road might flatten out. it didnt. until we got to the top where there was a good view, but no church. we wound down the other side of the mountain, but still no church. we were not happy and very exhausted because by now it was 4 pm and we didnt know where we were camping that night. luckily i remembered there was a camping ground in a town downhill from where we were, and good thing dino talked me into getting back on my bike. we had to go downhill for so long that our hands ached, we made it to the camp ground and were given the last camping spot! we fell asleep around 5:30 and stayed asleep most of the night.
Today was a whole new day and we were surprisingly feeling much better. we left the little town of onno when the camp ground office opened (we only had to pay 13 euros)! and we were much happier with the scenery today. chuckanut has a rival and i think the road along lake como wins hands down. there were hundreds of cyclists today and the road didnt even have a line going down the middle. cliffs on one side and the lake on the other. twice we had to go through tunnels and one of them was 2200 meters long!! best of all, it was flat.
we are now in bergamo, taking our time to lake iseo. we had gelato just before coming here and before that we had an afternoon apertivo that was really appreciated. we were nearly starving before we found the only restraunt that was open. on sondays everything in italy is closed.
everything.
and although we only had some olives, chips and wine it was enough to fuel us to a gelateria.
overall, i think we are doing really good despite having the hardest day of our lives yesterday. today seemed much easier even though we are covering about the same amount of ground, only this time we are descending from the italian alps instead of climbing them. if anything, yesterday was a good test of our physical limits.
the alpuian towns were beautiful and the people were very intersting. during the most challenging part of yesterday there was a herd of cows with bells around their necks watching us push our bikes up the mountain. it seemed like they were playing music or us because we were taking so long climbing. we would literally have stop about every 100 feet and rest for 10 minutes it was so steep. our gps said that we had reached over 2800 feet in altitude. when we got to the top the view was amazing and we realized that we were at the same height as the mountains we were fearing. the view down below to the blue lake como was awesome even though we were so exhausted.
the alpuian towns were beautiful and the people were very intersting. during the most challenging part of yesterday there was a herd of cows with bells around their necks watching us push our bikes up the mountain. it seemed like they were playing music or us because we were taking so long climbing. we would literally have stop about every 100 feet and rest for 10 minutes it was so steep. our gps said that we had reached over 2800 feet in altitude. when we got to the top the view was amazing and we realized that we were at the same height as the mountains we were fearing. the view down below to the blue lake como was awesome even though we were so exhausted. Saturday, August 9, 2008
Exploring the city
It has been a long day. We woke up around 3:30 this morning and couldnt go back to sleep so we left the hotel at 5 to see what Milan had to offer. It was really nice in the morning because the streets were empty and when we found our way to the galleria de vittoria emmanuele and the duomo, they were empty too. We spun our heels on the balls of the famous bull mosaic.... for good luck. Then we crossed the street and watched a barefoot man chase pigeons infront of the duomo yelling "alora!!!."
We also went to the Sforza castel and we learned that there are secret underground streets that go outside of the walls and let the soldiers ambush the attackers from behind. Also, Leonardo spent a lot of time here and designed some of the battlements. There are even more tunnels that go underneath the castle and across the street to where Leonardo had his workshop. Now, the workshop is part of the Museum of Art and Science.
We found cats relaxing in the moat which is now covered with vegetation. One of them looked at us.
We had an early lunch of pizza\panini near the duomo and then climbed to the roof which was our favorite part of the day. We took a nap and were shocked to find out it was only noon, our feet were so tired!
Afterwards we put our bikes together. Mine was a pice of cake, but we had to mess with Dinos brakes and rear wheel which may be a little bent from the trip. We had a picnic dinner on warm marble steps in the shadow of the duomo, and have just finished packing our bags for the bike.We will see how tomorrow turns out!
We also went to the Sforza castel and we learned that there are secret underground streets that go outside of the walls and let the soldiers ambush the attackers from behind. Also, Leonardo spent a lot of time here and designed some of the battlements. There are even more tunnels that go underneath the castle and across the street to where Leonardo had his workshop. Now, the workshop is part of the Museum of Art and Science.
We found cats relaxing in the moat which is now covered with vegetation. One of them looked at us.
We had an early lunch of pizza\panini near the duomo and then climbed to the roof which was our favorite part of the day. We took a nap and were shocked to find out it was only noon, our feet were so tired!
Afterwards we put our bikes together. Mine was a pice of cake, but we had to mess with Dinos brakes and rear wheel which may be a little bent from the trip. We had a picnic dinner on warm marble steps in the shadow of the duomo, and have just finished packing our bags for the bike.We will see how tomorrow turns out!
Friday, August 8, 2008
Arrived in Milano
Hey everyone,
We have made it into Milan. Our flights were pretty nice, but our layover at Heathrow was a bit hectic, they didnt announce our gate until a half an our before we were supposed to take off, and they started bording one minute later! We made it fine, but we had to go to a whole different wing in the gigantic terminal. We realized that we will need to change one of our flights on the way home since it takes so long to get through heathrow.
From The milan malpensa airport we took a bus to the central train station. Our bags proved to be a bit more then we could handle, the walk to our hotel was maybe 7 blocks and it wook a few trips and several stops. But we made it! The bike boxes were a little banged up from the flight, but they looked fine and we are just excited that everything made it here!
We are very tired, so we plan on doing our milan exploring tomorrow.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Packing
So much planning has been going on over the past few months and today we finally get to fly out! This week has been spent visiting friends and family and packing our bikes for the flight.
Monday, August 4, 2008
The Journey Begins
We leave Wednesday!
Our flight departs Seattle and arrives in London. We have a 4 hour layover at Heathrow and then we fly into Milan. Our plan is to stay in Milan for 2 days at a hostel while we put together our bicycles and explore the city. From Milan we go North to make a pilgrimage to the Madonna del Ghisallo. The Madonna del Ghisallo is the patron saint of cyclists and travelers - making it the perfect place to begin our journey.
We should be able to update this fairly often depending on when we run across internet points.
Our flight departs Seattle and arrives in London. We have a 4 hour layover at Heathrow and then we fly into Milan. Our plan is to stay in Milan for 2 days at a hostel while we put together our bicycles and explore the city. From Milan we go North to make a pilgrimage to the Madonna del Ghisallo. The Madonna del Ghisallo is the patron saint of cyclists and travelers - making it the perfect place to begin our journey.
We should be able to update this fairly often depending on when we run across internet points.
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