Month: October 2019

My very short ride to France ended yesterday when I did a combo of train and riding to get back home. The day started with an early walk around town to see the cathedral and the sunrise.

The basilica has two churches on a small square high up above town. The early morning light makes them look unreal.

Then down to the beach, where I caught furled umbrellas with the sun bright against them, vivid red, and then with the sun behind them, dark outlines.

As I headed back to the hotel to have breakfast with my two friends, I passed the town market. Bright lines of color against the zebra stripes.

Breakfast was a perfect combination: English tea and croissant!

I took the train to Ventimiglia (20 mile), just over the border. Wandered there for an hour before catching the Genoa train. The town was lively with the Saturday market busy and energetic.

Got off the train at La Spezia and rode the rest of the way home. Incredible light and warm colors. Popped down into the village of San Terenzo for an ice cream. They have done a great job with their small seaside piazza, it’s very inviting and comfortable.

Got home just before it became too dark to ride. Very strange to be done with my adventure and be home again. Felt like I’d left weeks ago, but it was only five days!

Today we arrived in Menton France. The border guards couldn’t even be bothered to look at us…

Tomorrow I head home and Diane and Slavica head north to Macon, eventually to Paris. I get croissants for breakfast, they get new adventures.

The ride today took us along an amazing 24km bike path, complete with good bike path tunnels. A couple were almost 2km long, but well lit, so fine.

Endless paths, with cafes along the way. Check out this cafe fence!

We started the day in Imperia with a lovely sunrise.

I saw a cool cathedral so made my way there only to find it looks better from the distance. So then I got to play “hill town street bingo” for quite a while before I could figure it how to get out of town.

Eventually we arrived in Menton where nobody got the memo that summer ended several weeks ago. It’s lovely here!

Menton is a very comfortable place. We love it here. Walked all around.

In the evening, we walked down to the beach. It’s like Disneyland for adults…

Great place for watching the sunset with a drink in hand.

We’re off to sleep now. Enjoy!

In Italy, just next to Cinque Terre, at Levanto. Day Two of a self-supported ride to France. I’m with two delightful women, one Serbian one Canadian. We ride all day, buy food at the supermarket, cook and eat together. Repeat.

We started at Carrara, rode through La Spezia, then took a road above Cinque Terre with almost no cars. Hard but good. Here’s Vernazza from above.

Then we dropped down into Levanto for the night. Strange place, like a youth hostel but with a great outside patio for eating. The next morning we wandered into the town before heading off.

Saw a lovely black and white church, inside and out.

A couple colorful shots: balcony fence and the beach-side place where we took coffee to start the day.

Very colorful new paint job! Near the train station in Sestri Levante.

A beautiful morning glory on the side of the road…

Near the top of the Passo del Bracco, there was the Cyclist’s Fountain, with crystal clear cold water. Wonderful. We refilled everything.

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Finally we dropped down into Rapallo, a fairly large town, famous and impressive throughout the centuries. Here’s an old port tower.

We’ve ended up in a good apartment, but it’s high on a hill and the owners building come to let us in until 7:30pm, but we arrived there at 6:15. So we sat outside for ages…

Tomorrow we fight our way through the Genoa megalopolis and spend the night in Varazze or somewhere over there. Stay tuned!

My good friends Anne and Davide are here in Milan visiting Davide’s mother, who lives in a suburb, Gallarate, so I decided I’d just drive up and hang with them for a couple days.

Yesterday Anne and I had an afternoon wandering the city. It was a blast! I hadn’t been in Milan for maybe 40-45 years.

We took in the Duomo, that froth of bright gothic spires. Completely over the top. And when we were there, there was an organized event going on to raise money for food in Africa. Each donation put a balloon on an empty plate.

Then we walked the streets and came across this sculpture outside the office of the Financial Administration. It looks like someone giving the finger, but the other fingers are broken off, not bent. A very fine distinction.

Around the corner was the church of Saint Maurizio (San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore). Turns out our two church chapels together. The religious could stay private in the inside church and the public could sit in the outside church. The church we saw was incredible. A square shape with every centimeter painted.

While we were there, a Bach violin concerto got underway in the inside church. We started for a while and listened. Loved it!

Then out once more. I wanted to see the Saint Ambrogio buildings. As we approached, we could hear organ music. How wonderful again! We entered to find a service just starting. We padded silently along the side corridor and listened for a while. A surprising amount of people in attendance.

Making our way outside, we discovered a classic monastery loggia. The light was going but what remained was rich and warm. It was incredibly beautiful and I wanted to stay there forever. Just perfect!

Today we’ll have lunch with Davide’s mom and cousins, and then we might go to Lago Maggiore. I’ll drive home tomorrow…

Day before yesterday, I finally got to hike with some friends who are big hikers. I’ve been it out town or they’ve been busy, but finally we did it. I’m hoping we do a lot more!

Mara and Chris chose a wonderful loop hike above Camaiore, which is the next town towards Lucca from where I live. They know all the hikes and history of the area, and there’s a lot (of both).

Right at the start of our hike (if I recall correctly) was this memorial spot. It’s still visited and kept up.

Once we got up away from road, the first place we came to was Castello Montecastrese, an important lookout village in the 1100s. The Lucchese conquered it in the 1200s and broke the tower in two, which you can see lying on its side.

You can see the walls of the houses and the walls around the village, some of which are now terraces.

Of course the views are incredible.

Further along was a cross that is lot every three years when the area has a night of illumination for Easter. Next one 2022. The small jars will be filled with oil and are visible for miles.

After that, we walked down to a stream and up the other side.

This area, called Candalla, was an important manufacturing area, with gunpowder factories using the stream’s water to power their machines. Abandoned now, the walls remain.

It’s very strange to hike along mountain trails, with steep jagged peaks towering above, and yet to be reminded of three people who have lived here for venture centuries. I felt like I was an explorer in the Amazon jungle.

Further along was also an old pastificio factory (pasta making) and it too has been left to nature. Hey, this was a happening place in the 1500s!

Our goal was to get to the village of Casoli for a caffè, which we did. I’d ridden my bike to this town but hadn’t ever walked around. Turns out 10 or so years ago, the locals (one of whom was an important painter) decided to create their own mural paintings. Now they are scattered all over town.

The artistic atmosphere encouraged other odds and ends.

Altogether lovely. We had coffee on a terrace looking down the valley and up into the mountains. Happy.