Bicycling Italy: Along the Adige River (Days 20 & 21 – Firenze to Rovereto)
Elizabeth One aim of my midlife gap year of travel was to visit old friends. I’ve spent the past few days doing just that in Firenze, and feeling sort of emotionally…
Bicycle Touring
The Warm Embrace of Friendship Renewed – Firenze (Days 17 – 19; 10 – 12 June)
10 June 2015 – Wednesday It rains while I am on the train to Florence. A pelting rain slanting into the Tuscan landscape of green hills, fields of crops and…
Into the Mass Tourism Beast I Go – Cinque Terre and Pisa (Days 15 & 16 – 8 & 9 June)
Travelling solo, and not being inclined to wear obviously branded clothing, I think people are a little confused by me. It’s a thing I notice on the train to Cinque…
The Ligurian Coast – Hot, Hilly, Beautiful (Day 14 – 7 June)
Wednesday 10 June: I catch up, then I fall behind, I catch up, then I fall behind. I’m struggling to find the right balance of riding, seeing the places I’m…
Genoa: No expectations, thoroughly delighted (5th – 6th June, Days 11 – 12)
“The Most Serene Republic of Genoa ruled the Mediterranean waves during the 12th to the 13th centuries, before deferring to the superior power of Piedmont. Its crusading noblemen once established…
Working Days and Holidays in Pavia (2/3 June – Days 9 & 10)
Later in the trip it will probably seem strange I spent so much time in Pavia. During my week in Milan I recovered from my journey, dealt with my delayed…
Following My Front Wheel At Last: Milan to Pavia (1 June, Day 8)
I’m glad I spent the week in Milan but it was more than time to begin the bicycling part of this bicycling trip. I pedalled away from Daniella’s place in…
A Bicycle Tourist without a Bicycle but in Milano (26 May – Day 2)
I woke for a time around 4am then slept through until 8 am. Very happy with that. After my endless day of travel I think my body would have accepted…
Knowing When Enough is Enough – Waiting out the Rain and Realising the Test Ride is Over (Days 12 – 14, 1 to 3 May)
I realised that whatever weather came on Sunday I was done with the test ride. I had learned what I needed to learn – about how to pack and what…
Only 7 km to a Vanilla Slice: Urunga to Scotts Head (Day 10: Wednesday 29 April)
The smell of recent-rain on hot tarmac with thoughts of a vanilla slice on my mind - the rain then fell hard, briefly, on my way into Macksville.