[Fall 2023] Italy.
I started my Italy trip with my brother and my mom. We left Barcelona, Spain on an overnight ferry, and landed in Sardinia, Italy. By noon the day after we left, we were having coffee in Porto Torres, a port town in the northern part of Sardinia. We had a ferry leaving a few days later out of Cagliari at the southern tip Sardinia. I wanted to cycle the entire distance. This ended up happening at the sacrifice of many views and attractions. The cycling route went:
This was a somewhat treacherous ride at times, but I made it, and enjoyed spending time with my family
while not riding. I made it to Cagliari just a couple hours before we were due to be on the next ferry.
The cycling route got pretty nasty at times.
Southern Italy
Our overnight ferry landed in Naples. We visited Pompeii ruins and explored the city before heading
North to a small town named Vicalvi.
Mt. Vesuvius from a belltower in Naples
Sunset from our stay at the base of the Vicalvi Castle
Tuscany
We spent our first day in Tuscany at a tourist town named Bolsena. After realizing the town was
more-geared towards tourists than we were anticipating, we found lodging in the nearby town of Bagnoregio.
The following day, my brother and I did a 30 mile ride around lake Bolsena before taking off to our next
destination.
The "crumbling castle" of Bagnoregio, aptly named as its foundation slowly disappears
Our next spot we landed in was Chianciano, near the city of Montepulciano, for which the wine variety is named.
My brother and I visited Montepulciano for some amazing wine and tapas.
Tuscan delicacies
The next day I cycled from Chianciano to Florence, a roughly 100 mile ride. The first half was primarily along
the Via Francigena, a
historical pilgrimage route to Siena. Once I hit Siena, it started lightly raining, and I grabbed a big bowl
of pasta, before making the second half of the route, which was primarily road - a welcome break from the
50 miles of gravel I'd just ridden. Once I landed at our AirBnB in Florence, I'd learned that our van was broken into.
While nothing valuable was stolen, our rear window had been smashed. This significantly changed our trip plans.
More dicey gravel riding
More to come!...