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Thursday 16 May 2002
- Italy
We have now been on the road for 10
days having left a cold and wet London on 7 May. We are currently in Italy
staying close to Meldola in a village called San Colombano, west of
Florence with the Venezia family. They have kindly opened up their home
for us to use as a base to tour Italy from. It is about 2 hours south to
Rome, an hour to Florence and half an hour to the east coast.
We have come through France, Germany, Austria and are currently in Italy
having completed 1629 miles so far. We caught the euroshuttle channel
train to France at 10am and were greeted by warm sunshine in Calais.
France: (2 days)
We headed east across northern France and camped in Sedan just north of
Reims along the river Meuse. Our route through France was mainly on the
back roads through some beautiful scenery. This included the Ardennes
Mountains and the Meuse valley.
Germany: (2 days)
We entered Germany on the 2nd day when crossing the Rhine river below
Strasbourg.
Our second night was spent camping on the banks of the Rhine. The
following morning we headed south along Lake Constance and up toward
Munich to pick up our carnets. We ran out of daylight looking for a
campsite close to Munich so we slept in a forest about 40km outside
Munich! We found the ADAC (German Automobile Association) to be very
friendly and helpful. Once we had our carnets in hand we started to head
south towards the Alps and Italy.
Austria: (1 day)
The pass we chose to cross the Alps on via the ski resort of Obergurgl,
south of Innsbruck was closed. We had to backtrack by 50km and used the
motorway to enter Italy.
Italy: (4 days so far)
We have been in Italy for 4 days now. We spent 2 nights camping next to
Lake Garda and stayed there for a day to relax. The weather was good and
we did some swimming though the water is not warm yet.
We moved on to Pisa for one night and visited the leaning tower in warm
sunshine, the first real warm day since beginning our trip. Then we headed
for some lovely Tuscan mountains and went over the ski pass of Passeo
dello Calla (1296m). We are really learning and loving the twists and
turns on the bikes. Our confidence grows daily on how low we can go!
Now we are staying at the Venezia's house in San Colombano. They have been
very kind to offer us the use of their house as a base so we'll probably
be doing a day trip or 2 from here to explore the lovely Italian
countryside over the next few days.
Today we are catching up with our washing, communication, bike maintenance
and enjoying the lovely sunshine!
The bikes are running very well and
have performed effectively in a variety of conditions we've encountered.
There have been long 80mph motorway sections; alpine ski hairpin passes as
well as the odd bit of off road riding. The weather has also varied from
sunshine, rain and freezing conditions in the Alps.
The brakes seem to be the most
prominent component this week when descending the passes. We may need to
get some extra front brake pads, as the weight we are carrying seems to be
using them relatively quickly.
Here's a breakdown of the past 8
days:
UK - France - Germany - Austria -
Italy
Tuesday:
London to Sedan (France) distance 274 miles
Wednesday:
Sedan to Rhine river (Germany) near Colmar distance 215 miles
Thursday:
Rhine to Sarburg (Germany) near Munich distance 290 miles
Friday:
Sarburg to Bicht via Munich distance 70 miles
Saturday:
Bicht to Lake Garda (Italy) via Innsbruck (Austria) distance 290 miles.
Sunday:
Day "off" spent at Lake Garda. Short ride of to explore,
distance 40 miles.
Monday:
Lake Garda to Pisa via ski resort of Abbetone distance 223 miles.
Tuesday:
Pisa to San Colombano (Venezia's house) distance 227 miles.
Tuesday 21 May
2002 - Italy
We are currently in Sorrento, Italy
close to Naples. We have been on the road for 15 days and completed 2320
miles (3700 km). Sorrento is a small village located south east of Naples
out on a peninsula.
We have been in Italy a little longer than planned due to its unexpected
diversity. We have found it to be a really diverse and interesting place
with beautiful beaches, lovely mountains and lush green landscape.
This is ideal landscape for both the motorcyclist and cyclist. We spent
some time both in Tuscany and Emilia Romagna. On our way south toward the
eastern port of Brindisi we spent most of our time on the scenic back
roads. Some of the passes we crossed over included Mandriola and Carnaio,
which both rise to above 1250 meters. These roads are a popular attraction
to the local riders too and they kindly greet as you pass.We were going to
spend a day to catch up with the Giro di Italia (Italy's version of the
Tour de France) but we were always one day ahead of their schedule. We
followed the route and passed through the town of Orvieto where the 14th
stage finished.
We stayed 40km north of Rome at lake Bracciano and used that as a base to
do a daytrip into Rome to do the touristy thing.
In between thunderstorms we managed to see the Vatican City and the
Coliseum. From Rome we headed further south to Sorrento, just south east
of Naples where we are now. The peninsula is really a beautiful setting
with loads of tourists about. We had sundowners on the edge of a cliff
overlooking the horizon and the most awesome sunset we've seen for a while
(no such thing in London!).
There were 3 cruise liners hugging the coastline and heading further
onward. We watched them approach as the sun set, then saunter off into the
dark, their lights glimmering off the water.We spent a day site seeing
around Naples. We rode up the pass to the top of Mount Vesuvius and walked
up to the crater. From the top you can overlook Naples and see where the
lava flowed down the mountain towards the sea. Pompeii can also be seen in
the distance, this is the most famous of Vesuvius eruptions back in 79AD.
We then visited Pompeii, 66 Hectares of roman city buried by ash for
hundreds of years by one of Vesuvius eruptions. This has recently been
discovered and they are still excavating parts to show it as it was. The
Roman roads still bear the scars of where the chariots wore into the
cobbled streets.The surrounding area of Naples is typical Italy: narrow
cobbled streets filled with lively locals, scooters (no helmets) dodging
in and out of busses and cars and everyone soaking up the sunshine dressed
for the summer.The Italian drivers deserve a mention! We have had some
narrow escapes and luckily survived all the hair-raising incidents around
Italy. The motorway sections were probably the most stressful so be warned
if you are in Italy on a motorbike - have your wits about you!! Our stay in
Italy has been a highlight of our European leg and we've all vowed to come
back to explore more of it. We head for the east coast tomorrow to board
the ferry at Brindisi bound for Igoumenitsa, Greece.
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