Ups and Downs in Italy

Italy, October 8 - 28:

View from cathedral tower in Florence

Medieval street in Assisi, Umbria. Note the campsite is a little higher up than this with the same view.

Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi

Feast for the eyes in Castigliani del Lago, Tuscany

Montepulciano, Tuscany

Ian picking olives at farm we camped at just outside of Pienza

On route from Sienna to Florence

Day of dreams - ride from Sienna to Florence

Mediterranean coast at Levanto, just north of Cinque Terre

Welcome to Slow Food in Turin

Sidewalk archades of Turin

Ancient Roman ruins and aquaduct in Susa

Susa Valley

Italian Alps near French border

On October 8th, we followed a terrific, paved trail past Koper, Slovenia to the Italian border where, in cycling terms, we were dumped. Hello, Italy! Your cousins next door have a so-called peace trail to your border and, at that point, it then turns into an overgrown mud pit! Well, we found our way out from the path and followed some helpful local cyclists along busy streets, including through a poorly lit tunnel, into the chaos of motorcycles, little 3-wheel trucks and cars, traversing the portlands of the city without a map, in search of the train station.

Before we found our destination, we were assisted by a woman in a car who indicated that we needed to turn around from the freeway access lane we were on, a cycling couple, a cheerful older man who clapped Ian on the back as he gave directions at a corner, a nun whose blown cap we chased after, and giggling teenagers trying out their English. We chatted in broken Italian with a woman while Sue fixed a flat (from that dim tunnel), and we then escaped the industrial portlands and emerged into the magnificent architecture of the downtown waterfront. There, we encountered an enormous yachting festival, with yachting folks from all over Europe. We were a little out of place amidst the matching sailing gear and well-polished boats, and a tourism guy quickly spotted us. He came over and informed us that all the rooms in the city and for miles around were full due to this festival. Being too late to take the train much distance and arrive at a decent time to find accommodations elsewhere, he suggested we bike 20 km further north to a campground. Sue was not enthused as the light was disappearing already. We headed in the direction of the camping, pedalling fast. Some 5 km down the road, Ian spotted a hostel sign. Thinking that these yachting types were not likely to choose this type of accommodation, we checked it out. They had one of the best hostels in Europe just waiting for us! With a balcony, our own room, windows overlooking the Med (only 10 m away!), and a royal castle and national park within view, we had it made in the growing shade. Although the ride through Trieste was loud and busy and long, we had already met many friendly locals, and despite the poor riding conditions, we were enjoying the lively, warm, effervescent Italian people already.

But northeastern Italy wasn't our place to linger, despite some tantalizing possibilities. To get to our next cycling tour, we planned to travel west and south to Assisi in Umbria by taking 4 different trains and arriving at a reasonable late afternoon hour. However, we had a later overnight stop in Florence after Sue's bike was abandoned at the train platform in Venice, fully loaded with all our camping gear and bike tools, and food! The train simply took off with the bike there and us inside loading Ian's bike. Their trains are super long. Ian had to march quickly through the entire train to find a staff person, who arranged for us to get off at the next stop and for the bike to arrive on the next train. It was a bit of a delay and hassle, but we were pleased to have the bike back and all the gear on it! We later learned that this is not unusual and that bike tour leaders tell people to lean their bike against the train so they don't take off before the bikes are loaded. Of course, it would be much faster to load the bikes if their trains had wider doors, low floor technology (no stairs, like the German trains), some indication of which end of the train would have bike facilities, and available conductors to advise passengers ...

We found a large hostel with great (but busy) facilities, and shared travel notes with a cycling South African couple. Florence was so busy with tourists, even at this point in the season, that you couldn't get tickets without reserving ahead to some of the major attractions. Instead, we wandered the ancient streets and took in the spectacular architecture and major churches of Florence, a city well worth its renown but one that seems to be overrun by outsiders.

After a day among the Florence sights, we continued on to Assisi, a medieval town perched on a prominent hill in the province of Umbria. It was great - once you got up there! This was our first taste of the hills of Italy that we would be getting to know better as we cycled through the countryside from Assisi back to Florence. Most of the route is in Tuscany and the towns are on high hill tops, defensively overlooking the valleys. The camping was great at Assisi and the on-site restaurant, which many Italian campsites have, was fantastic. The traditional kitchen and eating area had a large open fire for cooking, and the roast chicken, soup and greens were delicious. Of course, St. Francis hails from Assisi and the large cathedral dedicated to him had interesting wall paintings depicting his life story. His simple cave retreat nearby, the pilgrims following his country meanderings (including a German Buddhist monk whom Ian met), and the numerous chapels and churches across the region and beyond pay tribute to the teachings of this humble man and his close connections with nature.

Our first day riding out from Assisi was disappointing. We started early, recognizing the shorter days, but Sue had two flats within the first 5 km. Then, we took a long time ascending the road into the town of Perugia, which turned out to be teeming with traffic as the town was preparing for an international scale chocolate festival. Behind schedule, we couldn't stay much longer than to scarf down some pizza ... and get into the spirit with chocolate, of course. Our way out of Perugia was a maze of roads with innumerable traffic circles pointing to the expressways for Rome and Florence with hardly a mention of nearby towns. By now, our cycling instincts were well honed, and we managed to find our way out of the maze without taking a wrong turn and only asking once for directions. But, the supposedly quiet road seemed to have become quite a highway since our guidebook was written and we were disappointed with the quality of the riding. The end of the day found us checking out closed campsites on Lake Trasimeno (with lovely islands and bordering wetlands and hills), so we grabbed a hotel room and cooked over our one-burner stove on the balcony. We were the only guests, so we were grateful that the warm hotel was open.

From here, the riding improved as we cycled around the lake to the medieval town of Castiglioni Del Lago. The town has a lovely setting on a hill overlooking the lake, and an ambiance with artisanal food shops just waiting to meet our food pack. From there, we enjoyed sunshine and quiet riding to the long, busy hill up to the town of Montepulciano. We marvelled at the medieval streets on foot, tasted their renowned wine, then descended a ridge and valley to an organic farm with agriturismo. Podere Il Casale, on the outskirts of the hill town of Pienza, offers camping and a large heated room where wonderful dinners are served up every night for their volunteers and paying guests. The nights are cold and dark for cooking now, so a warm, lit room filled with hot food each night is a real treat! With a welcoming setup and interesting companions, we decided to stay a few days. One day, we toured some of the higher Tuscan towns by bike without our baggage, including an ancient thermal bath town (Bqgno Vignoni) , Mount Amiata's heights, views, and twisty climbs and descents, and the edge of famed Montalcino. It turned out to be an incredibly scenic but tough 80 km ride. We recovered the next couple of days, picking olives, chasing sheep and celebrating a Swiss girl's birthday in fine style. The goat and sheep cheeses, plus wine and olive oil, are well known from this farm and we can confirm that they and the hosts' dinners are quite delicious!

Our next destination was north towards Siena. The riding and scenery were terrific, and even the hills were not too daunting. However, signs for 20% grades, both up and down, made us wonder! Pienza is known for central square planning by a Pope; one ancient town en route celebrated truffles , another its lofty abbey, while we enjoyed the sunny views across valleys towards high-walled and -towered villages (such as San Gimignano). The Tuscan countryside was aglow in muted yellow, orange and rusty tones, with deep furrowed fields and sentinel cypresses lining lanes leading to siena-coloured stone farmhouses. It started to pour just as we arrived in Siena and by the time we reached the campground, we were soaked. For the first time in a long time, we met touring cyclists; one couple was from Australia and the other from Maine USA. We spent a couple nights sharing stories and plans. The ride north on to Florence was great and the weather was shining in our favour again. We felt so lucky to see the famous Tuscan landscape with such clear skies and we ate up the quiet roads we followed (until about 5 km from the city). The Italian roads can be very busy and it is tight in towns with their medieval narrow lanes, but in the north we find the drivers respectful and patient with cyclists. We have heard that this attitude does not always prevail in southern Italy.

This time, we stayed at the campground overlooking Florence, lit up below us in the evening. We managed to make our way down to the train station between bouts of rain in the morning where we boarded a train to Levanto, a small town on the Mediterranian adjacent to the famous Cinque Terre region. Given our plans, we only had one day in Levanto, but we made the most of it. We found a campsite in town (not surprisingly, we were the only ones camping there) and went for a gorgeous walk along the coast, enjoying the sunset views alon g the coast, then seafood dinner out. We felt another short burst of summer in the warmth of the afternoon sun, but as soon as it dipped below the horizon, we were reminded that fall had arrived.

We arrived by train in Turin, northern Italy, after an early morning rise and scenic ride along the coast to Genoa and then a turn inland and north. We settled into our somewhat dingy hostel, sharing a room with 4 other people, one of the only rooms below 100 euros a night that we could find. We were in town for the biennial Terra Madre event, a 3 day conference where people from all over the world meet to share ideas and experiences that improve community food systems and sustainability. The workshops were stimulating, as were the practical sessions that helped train the senses to better taste, smell and savour our food, complete with elaborate wine tastings! We both went to the huge Slow Food emporium where you could taste and buy locally- and sustainably-produced specialty foods from around the world. Every region in Italy was particularly well represented and we enjoyed hours eating, drinking and chatting with the food providers.

After Terra Madre, we toured around the city of Turin. Sue, in particular, was taken with the city, its arcades, squares and riverside walks (despite some heavy rain). Our local coffee bar had great coffee and croissants to supplement our breakfasts! From here, we had planned to take the train into Provence, France and then do some volunteer farming further west in the southern French region of Aude. We did recall our not-so-great train experiences in France and Italy to this point.

Then we noticed an enticing mountain valley with a flat quiet road leading to the border, as well as a stellar weather forecast. That was all we needed to persuade us to bike west into the Susa Valley from Turin, heading straight towards towering white mountains glistening in the sunshine. We stayed at an awesome B & B in Susa, a delightful town replete with Roman ruins and surrounded by mountains. We went hiking for a day to garner great views up and down the valley. We then continued up (OK, it was fairly flat to Susa at least!) to Aulz where, after some convincing of the driver, we scored a shuttle bus over the high Alps pass some 20 km west into Briancon, France. The vistas were perfectly clear and the mountains were stunning with new fallen snow on the ground at the higher elevations. What a trip we are on!