August 1, 2018

We left the hostel at 9:15 and took the Metro to St. Peters Square. We only wanted to go to St. Peters Square and go into the Church. This was going to be a “free” day. After getting off the Metro, we could not walk more than 50 yards before someone would come up and try to sell us “Skip the Line” entrance tickets to the Vatican Museum. The prices ranged from 48E each to E75.00 each.

If you pay to go into the Vatican Museum, you enter the Sistene Chapel and then the Basilica from another entrance, thereby skipping the line to get into the church. Am I being very cynical by saying “If you pay the Vatican – you can skip the line and maybe go straight to heaven and skip hanging around with the riff-raff who cannot afford to pay to get into heaven”. Or maybe there should be help for the beggars that are outside of the churches.

I was very disappointed at the price and all the hawkers trying to sell us tickets. The actual price to enter the Vatican Museum varies from E17 to E38. At the very minimum (E17) the Vatican Museum has an income of 78 million Euros per year.

I understand that monuments and museums need funding. Especially those ancient monuments like the Colesium etc, which you pay to get inside. I don’t mind donating when I am in a church, as we did in Ulm. However, there is a tourist tax for every person staying in any accommodation in Rome from hostels to hotels, E4.00 per head. Approximately 4.2 million tourists visit the Vatican Museum every year. Not all of those tourists are going to spend a night in Rome. If only half of them spend a night in Rome that is 9.6 million Euros per year just on hotel tourist tax.

All we really wanted to see was inside the Basilica and St. Peters Square. The line for the Basilica was a two hour wait. I didn’t want to pay to go into the Vatican Museum.

We had a wander around the square trying to decide whether to join the “free” line. I asked the Swiss Guard, if we could get into the garden area.  No you can only access the garden from the Vatican Museums. 

As we left St. Peter\’s Square we noticed a small church.  Although we didn\’t see the Sistine Chapel, we thought this painting on the ceiling was very impressive.

We opted to continue on our journey visiting the free things – Piazza Navona, Panthenon, Tivoli fountain, Spanish Steps etc.

We had a wonderful day. I was the tour guide and had the map.

Before we started the walking tour, we stopped for a coffee and a sandwich at a small café near the Castle. It was a very peaceful area, with nice music, the prices were reasonable and the coffee was good.

We crossed over the Tiber, passing the law courts of Rome.  A very impressive building.

The first place we came to was the Piazza Navona. A large gathering place with fountains and a pointy thing. The square was surrounded by restaurants and gelato cafés. Erected in the centre of Piazza Navona, the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers) was designed by Bernini in 1651. The four statues represent the most important rivers of the continents where Christianity had spread.

As we came towards the Piazza we noticed what appeared to be an archaelogical site. The Piazza is built on the site where the Stadium of Domitian (Circus Agonalis), founded in 86 AD, once stood. It could hold approximately 20,000 spectators, which came here to see different athletic competitions. The stadium was re-discovered when they began excavations for a new metro line. They retained the excavations and have a very good exhibition of how the stadium (or Circus) was constructed.

After the Piazza Navona, we negotiated the small streets and a very poor map to the Pantheon not to be confused with the Parthenon in Athens. The Pantheon is a Roman temple dedicated to all the gods of pagan Rome. At the beginning of the 7th century the building was donated to the Pope Boniface IV, who transformed it into a church. Churches are free to get into in Rome. The roof is open and when it rains, there are small holes in the floor that allow the water to drain away.

There were signs around the building stating this was a place of worship and to be quiet and respectful. However, there were a lot of people inside and the noise echoed around the building.

We carried on our walking tour of Rome to the Trevi Fountain. The weather was hot and there is not much room to get a good photo of the fountain. Lots of people, including myself were trying to cool off, putting their hands or hats into the cool waters of the fountain.

The Trevi fountain is the largest fountain in the City measuring approximately 20 meters in width by 26 meters in height. The myth of the Trevi Fountain, originated in 1954 with the movie \”Three Coins in the Fountain,\” goes like this:

• If you throw one coin: you will return to Rome.
• If you throw two coins: you will fall in love with an attractive Italian.
• If you throw three coins: you will marry the person that you met.

In order to achieve the desired effect, you should throw the coin with your right hand over your left shoulder.

Over one million Euros are thrown into the fountain each year and there are signs stating not to take money out of the fountain, as it belongs to Rome.

Finally we got to the Spanish Steps. The Spanish Embassy is located in this square. The Spanish Steps (Scalinata di Trinità dei Monti in Italian) were built at the beginning of the eighteenth century connecting Piazza di Spagna and the Church of Trinità dei Monti.

Ralf went to get some photos from the top of the steps and I waited in the shade. There were a lot of hawkers asking for money. I don’t carry the money when we are on vacation, it was easy to say “I have no money”. My little bag, is not from any fancy fashion house and when I say I have no money they look at my little bag and walk away.

This concludes your Free Walking Tour of Rome.

From the Spanish Steps we took the Metro back to the hostel.

It was very hot and we wanted some gelato. The gelato near the touristy area is more expensive and smaller portions. We waited until we got closer to the hostel and had a huge gelato at our new favorite Gelataria.

We cooked pasta at the hostel and spent the evening chatting to other guests. It was a really nice evening again, although we were told off for making too much noise after 10:00. Reminds me of Dick getting us into trouble at the last GOBA, when we were told to be quiet.

July 31 2018

Ralf has been sending emails to various bike shops around the City to find out about packing services or boxes.  We received a couple of responses the price ranged from E50 to E100 for both bikes.  However, we would still have to get the bikes from the shop to the hostel or the airport.

After breakfast we headed out to a bike shop that was within 1 km of the hostel. They didn’t pack bikes but they did have boxes. We bought two boxes (E10) and headed back to the hostel.

Ralf was ready to dismantle the bikes and have the boxed bikes in the room. The owner of the hostel was not keen on having two large boxes in the room, so we agreed to wait until Thursday afternoon to pack the bikes.

As I mentioned we are only in this hostel until Friday. There is a Best Western near the airport and another one about 500 metres from the hostel. I went into the one near the hostel and asked about rates and could they arrange a van to get us to the airport.

The rates are very good for our remaining three nights and they can arrange a mini-van to take us to the airport. The lady on reception called the taxi service to ensure that they had a mini-van large enough for the boxes. We booked from Friday to Monday at the Best Western and they will arrange the mini-van to take us to the airport.

We spent the rest of the day updating the blog and trying to stay cool. Average daytime temperatures are 35 degrees with a real feel of 38 degrees. Night-time temperatures are about 25 degrees, but we do have air-conditioning in the room

After dinner we had a really interesting conversation with an Indian lady (Melody) who had studied in India to be a Doctor and is now studying in Australia to be an Orthopedic Surgeon. We talked about India and arranged marriages (she had one), families and education. What a great evening.

July 30 2018

Farewell Pompei, we hope you survive the next eruption from your very close temperamental neighbour!

We got on the local train to Naples and got off on the wrong station. No problem, get back on the train and get of in one stop – no extra charge!  As mentioned previously, there is graffiti everywhere, even the trains have graffiti on them.

This is the only graffiti in Italy that we have seen that is comparable to some of the \”art-work\” we have seen in other areas of Europe.  Maybe the only reason that graffiti is so prevalent in Italy is that it comes from an Italian word. The rest of the graffiti is just tags.

\”Both \”graffiti\” and its occasional singular form \”graffito\” are from the Italian word graffiato (\”scratched\”). … In ancient times graffiti were carved on walls with a sharp object, although sometimes chalk or coal were used\”

We bought our “slow train” tickets back to Rome. Cost of these tickets were E26 for two, cost for the fast train after 12:00 was E45.00 tickets for two. We should have got in to Rome about one hour later than the fast train. No worries worked on pictures and got the photos ready to update the blog.

The train was delayed at one station because the lights were not working on the track. The conductor on the train spoke very good English and asked if we had heard and understood the announcements. Good service!

When we arrived back at the hostel we had a nice cool shower and asked to do some washing. We were told the cost at the hostel was E10.00. E10.00 you have to be kidding me. We asked where the nearest Laundromat was, she said they charge E10.00 for the wash and dry. We don’t use the dryer for the cycling gear and our clothes. The young lass (Marianne) who is working the desk at the hostel, apologized for the cost. We got our dirty clothes together and were about to find the closest Laundromat when Marianne came in and said she would do the washing for free and if the boss came back she would say they were her clothes. The boss wasn’t due until 11:00 p.m. We didn’t want to get her into any trouble, but she took the clothes and put them in the washing machine. European washing machines take over an hour to complete the wash cycle. The washing was done, dried and folded by 8:00 p.m. – Good Service!

Ralf went to get us some pizza slices from the pizza place across from the hostel (Pizza Cinque). The lady who served us last time, served Ralf and asked where I was – Good Service! Things are looking up.

Tomorrow we are hoping to get the bikes boxed or at least boxes for the bikes. If we use a service, we have to get the boxed bikes from the bike shop back to the hostel. If we can get boxes, Ralf can box the bikes and we only have to get them from the hostel to the airport.

We are only booked into the hostel until Friday, then we either have to stay a few more days or find a hotel closer to the airport.

July 29 2018

Another great day being tourists.

We walked the short distance from our B&B to the entrance of the Pompei ruins. We spent almost four hours wandering around this very large archaeological site.

STREETS IN POMPEI

As we entered the site from the main ticket office, we entered the amphi-theatre.

AMPHITHEATRE

Pompeii was covered by ash in 79 AD. As we wandered around we would listen to some of the tour guides. The City of Pompeii ruins covers over 44 hectares (100 acres) and there are still ongoing archaeological digs and renovations to the various houses. The population at the time of the eruption was approximately 16,000 to 20,000. It is unknown how many people escaped the eruption. However, the remains of only 1,500 people have been found, there could be many more undiscovered bodies. Only recently in Herculenum 300 remains were found.

Pompeii was a large Roman City with an amphitheatre, large square, commercial buildings and public baths which are all visible and restored. There was even a “red light district!”

On the map (first photo) there is a blue dotted line, that is the route for wheelchair accessibility! What do you think James?  It is the top sidewalk that is supposed to be accessible!  We didn\’t see anyone in a wheelchair.

The tour guides would show the highlights of the City, we walked up and down the streets and found some interesting places.

Some of the larger houses covered one whole block, with ornate murals and mosaics.

MOSAICS

Some of the houses were only open at set times, some from 9:30 to 1:30 and others 1:30 to 5:30.

MURALS

EXAMPLES OF CEILING DECORATIONS

There was one house and garden that we could not enter in the morning, it was open in the afternoon as we were leaving and we were able to see the mosaics and gardens.

There were a few plaster casts on display of the people who could not escape the explosion.

However, one tour guide said that most of the wealthier people of the area were able to get away. Only the slaves, servants, and disabled people could not escape from the cataclysmic event.

As we were leaving we spotted the directions to the red light district of ancient Pompei and the advertising sign for the house.

This is a major archaeological site that is still undergoing excavations.  To put things into perspective, Vesuvius is rumbling, the last major eruption happened in 79 AD, there were approximately 16,000 to 20,000 people living in the area (including Herculaneum).  The photo below shows the area of modern day Pompei with a population of 25,400.  Although when this volcano erupts again, it could effect up to 3 million people, depending on the wind direction.

The temperature soared again by mid-morning, 35-38 degrees. We were melting, thank-goodness for Merino wool t.shirts – we don’t stink (too bad).

We stopped on our way back to the B&B for a late lunch and went back to the B&B for a cool shower.

I was able to change our return flights. Air Transat was really helpful. We couldn’t get on the week-end flights, our flight leaves on Monday August 6 and arrives in Montreal at 16:50.

We will spend a night in Dorval and then cycle home from Montreal. I checked for trains, but there are no bike trains after August 6. Ontario has been having a heat wave this summer, I hope it has cooled down a bit by the time we are cycling home.

July 28 2018

A great day being tourists. We had a light Italian breakfast which consisted of cappuccino, chocolate croissants, and a small piece of cake. It is no wonder the Italians are highly strung, espresso and sugar for breakfast!

On our way to pick-up the tourist bus we spotted this old Fiat.

I asked the owner, who was polishing the chrome, \”How old was the Fiat\”  No English, I pointed to Ralf\’s grey hair and asked again \”Age of Fiat\”.  He laughed and said it was 60 years old, almost the same age as the grey haired man!

The bus left on time and we headed along the highway and then up a narrow, winding road to Mount Vesuvius.

There is a parking area where the buses wait for the tourists and then you walk the remaining 3 kms to the top of the crater. About one-third of the way up there is an English guide who gives you information on the volcano.

The last eruption was in 1944 with a lava flow that destroyed several buildings. However, due to the technology and the equipment that they now have, they believe that they will know (in time) when the next major eruption will happen.

They are expecting a major eruption, as it has been hundreds of years and they believe that the pressure is building inside the volcano. The yellowish area of the crater in this picture has been recorded at a temperature of 100 degrees centigrade, it is much hotter at the bottom of the crater.

I asked how many people were in the vicinity of Vesuvius – over 3 million people. Evacuation procedures are in place to evacuate the people closest to the eruption zone of 7 kms. I asked how many people that involved, the answer was 700,000 people. I don’t think that included the hundreds of tourists that are in this area every day. I was amazed how calm he was when he answered the question. 700,000 people to evacuate!!

I have never been to an “active” volcano before, it was very interesting. Although you couldn’t see any bubbling magma, there was an area that was puffing steam and you could smell the sulfur in that area.

We couldn’t see the coastline at all as there was a lot of cloud cover. On a clear day you can see the Amalfi coast and the Island of Capri. We really enjoyed the trip, although the walk to the top was very gravelly and I had to stop a couple of times to empty my shoes of the small stones.

After the visit to Vesuvius we were supposed to head to Herculaneum, but the bus bought us back to Pompeii.

We were the only ones on the bus that had booked the double sites. No problem, we got into a mini-van and were taken to Herculaneum and picked-up two hours later.

Herculaneum is the unsung hero of this area.  There are less visitors to this archaeological site, which gives you more time to enjoy individual houses and areas of the site.

Although it was affected by small earthquakes before the 79AD volcano eruption of Vesuvius, it is not as well known as Pompei.  However, the town was better preserved because it was covered with pyroclastic rock that solidified.

This led to the phenomenon of preserving the Town in its original state. Including two and three storey buildings, plants, fabrics, furniture and statues.

The digs began in 1738 using underground tunnels and ventilation shafts. In 1875 “open-air” digs were approved.

The archaeological digs are ongoing towards the shoreline. In 1982 approximately 300 skeletons were found near the shoreline. This was a much smaller Town than Pompei, approximately 20 hectares (50 acres). The population was about 4,000 to 5,000.

We listened to one tour guide who was telling her group about the wealthy merchants garden and the marble statues that were found.  The hunting dogs show that the merchant was very wealthy.  The merchant also had statues of the God of Wine (Bacchus), the third statue showed the God after having too much wine!

It was a very interesting visit. Thanks to my sister-in-law Diane who told us about Herculaneum. By the time we finished visiting Herculaneum and back in Pompeii it was really hot again.

Once again, we sat in the square and watched people, there is a drink that I have seen all around Italy, it is called Apeldore. I tried Apeldore with soda. It tastes a little like Pimms with lots of fruit and ice. We ate dinner at the same restaurant and it was good. Tomorrow is Pompei and then back to Rome on Monday.

We have to change our return flights, box the bikes and work out how we are going to get them to the airport. We have five days booked at the hostel in Rome.

July 27 2018

Up early to catch the train to Naples and then on to Pompei where we booked three nights at a B & B.

We got to the train station and found that most of the trains in the morning cost over E55.00 per person. The first train in the afternoon (12:26) the price dropped by half, no idea why. We waited in the train station for three hours and then caught the train to Naples, a two – hour train journey.

When you take a train in Italy you buy your ticket and then validate it before getting on the train. The tickets are then good for four hours. We had validated our tickets on every train we have been on, even the short 10 minute journeys in Cinque Terre. Every other train no-one checked the tickets, although the conductors wandered through the train. Well guess what happened to us this time. Yep, we forgot to validate the tickets and there were two conductors checking the tickets. We were both having mini-heart attacks. I had read that if you didn’t validate your ticket you could be fined on the spot about E200.

The fella checked the ticket, checked the seat we were sitting in and gave us the tickets back. OMG he didn’t check to see if they had been validated.

We arrived in Naples and asked where we could get the local train to Pompei. Downstairs – Circumvesuviana, a different train line. We bought our tickets – E8.00 for a half hour trip. The train was a very local train, no air conditioning, hard plastic seats and no announcements to let you know what station you were arriving at. Fortunately, it did have a map of the route and the stations, Ralf counted the stations and the train trundled along to Pompei. The graffiti along this line and in Italy in general has been very prevalent. Every wall that could be tagged was tagged, and at some stations even the station signs were covered with graffiti, so much that you could not read the name of the station.

We found our B & B very easily, and had a nice shower before heading out to explore Pompei. The room is clean and big. We had initially booked for two nights, then decided we needed an extra night to see Vesuvius, Herculaneum and Pompei. It is difficult to modify your bookings on Bookings.com, Ralf booked an extra night separately. Because we had two separate bookings, we have two different rooms. Our second room is not quite as big!

We were very surprised to see that Pompei is a really clean Town (except for the Train Station). There is a large church where the priest has been beatified for his good works with the orphans of the area.

There was a wedding at the church and the guests were waiting outside for the bride and groom to come out of the church. The guests had sprinkled grain on the floor and the pigeons had landed, the bride and groom ran out of the church and the pigeons all took off.  I am sure it looks better with white doves!

The square around the church is large and clean, with lots of bars, restaurants and ice-cream stores surrounding the square. On Friday evening, the square and bars were full with people watching people, meeting friends and strolling the square or sitting and relaxing on the numerous park benches.

We decided to book a bus tour to take us to Vesuvius and Herculaneum tomorrow. We have to pay the entrance fees to both sites. I asked the tourist office if we got a deal for booking two trips and surprisingly he gave us E10.00 of the price.

We had a nice meal and then sat in the square at a small bar with a drink and watched people for about an hour. We retired back at our air-conditioned room at about 10:30.

July 26 2018

A lovely breakfast at the best place that we have stayed at in Italy (Locanda Etrusca B&B). Fabio and his wife, Patrizio, spoke a little English and they were both so friendly and helpful.

This winter they are doing some renovations to the house, so that all the rooms are en-suite. He will be able to charge more per room. I think he could have charged more than he did, (E58.00) as the breakfast was excellent and the beds were really comfortable.

We left around 10:00 and cycled the 10.4 kms to Cecine (approximately 35 mins) where we waited for the train that was leaving at 12:20. We chatted to a German family for a while and then maneuvered the bikes onto the platform. This was the smallest lift we have used. I had to take one of my panniers of to fit in the lift and Ralf had to stand his bike on one wheel to fit in the lift.

Fortunately there was no platform change. The bike carriage had three steps up to the area where we stored the bikes. We manhandled both bikes into the area as it was a 4 hour trip and we wanted to sit and enjoy the journey and not have to hold the bikes all the way.

We also knew that the train terminated in Rome and we would have time to get the bikes down the three steps and onto the platform.

When we got into Rome a nice fella helped us off the train with the bikes. Then we had to cycle to the hostel through the madness that is Rome traffic. We organized our bags and headed out to the warmshowers (WS) host who was going to store our bikes for us while we travel to Naples and Pompeii.

Again we headed out into the madness. I had my hand very close to my horn (90 decibels) works in Rome – it didn’t in Vietnam. We got to the WS host and no-one was home. We texted Marcello, unfortunately he couldn’t wait for us to arrive. We had arranged to be at his place at about 6:00 but due to the traffic and navigation we were 45 minutes late – 6:45. He had to leave at 6:30 and wouldn’t be home until 11:30.

We have arranged to leave our bikes and gear at the hostel – we can lock everything up and hopefully it will still be here when we get back!

As we headed back to the hostel we found the Coliseum, it was sitting in the middle of a very large traffic circle!

We will be back after Naples/Pompeii, but a quick photo as we cycled around it was worth the stop.

I spotted a few lightening strikes and loud thunder rolled around the city. The heavens opened just as we arrived back to the hostel. We got a little damp, but it has cooled the air a little.

After a shower we went across the road to a local pizza place. A few tables with crowds of Italians around them. We choose three different slices of pizza, which was weighed and then heated. We ate amongst the locals who were loud, it was a great vibe.

July 25 2018

A lovely breakfast in Bibbona, then we hopped on our bikes and cycled to Cecine. There is a train station in Cecine and we can book train tickets to Rome. The person at information said she only spoke a little English, she was really good. We booked the tickets and the bikes on the 12:20 to Rome.

I stopped at a Farmicia (Pharmacist) to get something for my mosquito bites. The English speaking pharmacist sold me some cortisone cream, which has worked really well.

We had a lovely walk around Bibbona when we got back and then relaxed in the B&B.

The Tourist Information Office in Bibbona arranges an information walk around the Town every Thursday during the high-season.  Unfortunately we will not be here, it would have been very interesting.

We noticed this light as we looked into the Tourist Office.

We will only be in Rome for one night and then we are heading to Naples and Pompeii as tourists for a couple of days.

July 24 2018

A pear shaped day. After making our own breakfast in the \”B & B\” we headed south towards a small Tuscan village called Bibbona.

For the first 20 kms the road was good and we were following the coast.

Then we had to find our way around Livorno, and everything went pear-shaped. Livorno has a large port area and we ended up going north on a four-lane road with transports passing us at speed.

Eventually, we found our way back down to the coast and followed the coast through a very pretty City.

Our second navigational error happened about 40 kms into the ride. The road we were supposed to follow should have taken us along the coast. The road-signs indicated that the road was only a motorway and had signs indicating the fines you would pay if you were on the motorway when you shouldn’t be. The garmin didn’t indicate two roads, only the motorway. The paper map showed the coastal route, but we didn’t know how to get to get there.

We went under the motorway and began to climb a beejeesus hill. Actually we pushed the bloody bikes up the hill. Half-way up Ralf looked at the Garmin and said the immortal words that I have heard so many times on this trip. “We are going the wrong way”.

There were a few bad words said, actually quite a lot of bad words and even a few tears. We turned the bikes around and headed down the 14% degree hill back to the road that said No bicycles. About 1 km down this road that was leading to the motorway, there was a right turn that joined the coastal road. We added 10 kms to a 75 km ride going in the wrong direction and it was bloody hot, 35 degrees C (95F)

We eventually arrived in a small seaside resort (Castelglione) at 12:30. We pulled the bikes into a small Bistro, that I knew was going to be expensive, but we needed food and cold water. The waitress looked at us and ignored us. We sat down and waited. We noticed that no-one was being served and other people were leaving. We asked if they were open, yes. Still she didn’t come to serve us. My patience was running very thin at this point.

We left the Bistro and two doors down we found a little fast food outlet with a wonderful lass who was very helpful, although didn’t speak any English. They kept the cold bottled water in the coolers, not in the Cola fridge, we got two bottles of really cold water and I had a slice of pizza and Ralf had a “Big Chicken” burger with fries.

With food and cold water and a “free” pee we carried on to Bibbona.We cycled through Cecina where the market was closing and left a tremendous amount of garbage on the streets.  In Germany the street sweepers would have been there cleaning.

Bibbona is a lovely small village built on a mountain. Yes we had to push our bikes up a beejessus street (18%) We then found the best B&B in Italy. Fabio was waiting for us, he opened the garden gate so that we could store our bikes safely in the garden. Our room is lovely and the shower was hot and clean.

The house was built in the 1800’s and Fabio used to come here as a boy. His English was not great but we managed to have a great chat. He laughed and said, “you must want to shower, I like to talk, I can blah blah”.

He gave us advice on the best restaurants in Town.

Bibbona has narrow, clean streets.  The streets are narrow with stone buildings lining the side.  Some of the streets are cobbled with lovely patterns.

We went for a nice walk around the village and had a lovely ice-cream, before heading to the pizza restaurant for dinner.

An amazing village in Tuscany with great views.

However, although we had a positive end to the day and we have had a few good days. A decision has been made to go home. We are not going to miss out on the other things on our bucket list, including Rome and Pompeii, but we have given up on the cycling. We are not enjoying getting lost, having to spend so much money on accommodation (even if we were camping) and for the first time on our adventures not really enjoying the cycling. We were both expecting so much more from Europe and the Eurovelo routes. They had been advertised as the “be all and end all of cycle routes”, we thought we would barely need to use a GPS or maps, just follow the signs. That has not been the case.

We have asked for an extra night in Bibbona to regroup and book accommodation in Rome and we are going to take a train to Rome on Thursday 26, 2018.

My arms and legs are covered in mosquito bites that are itching like crazy and they have all swollen to the size of quarters. Although I have Benydryl cream it is not working to stop the itch. I took a couple of benydryl tablets and I hope that will help me sleep.

July 23 2018

Today Ralf checked something of his bucket list. The Tower of Pisa and he was not disappointed.

We had decided to cycle to a restaurant we had spotted that served a full breakfast, with eggs and bacon. The breakfast was good and cheap E7.00 for eggs and bacon, croissant, juice, coffee and toast.

We left La Spezia along the industrial port area.

We had to cross a river and then head uphill towards Lerici.  We had to stop at the lift bridge, it allowed a single yacht to go through.

We knew we had a “bump” to go over, but nothing we couldn’t handle. Actually the bump was even less than we thought it was going to be as we cycled through a couple of tunnels. There were no signs to say we couldn’t cycle through. The first tunnel was a little nerve-wracking as we didn’t put on our lights on, but it was a short tunnel. The second tunnel we put our lights on, although the car drivers were impatient.

We dropped down to Maria de Carrara and followed the coast almost all the way into Pisa. Most of the route had cycle paths, however, they were used by people on a leisurely ride to the beach.

It was difficult to define one town from another, one beach area ran into the next. Alot of the beach areas were private, very few were for the general public.

We did notice a lot of camping areas, but these were reserved for week-long campers. I had checked to see if they had “bungalows” which a lot of them did. They were available for a minimum of two nights and the camp-sites were a minimum of a week! No availability for touring cyclists.

We stopped for a rest under a tree and to buy some water.  We were expecting it to be expensive, but fortunately it was only E1.50 for 1.5 litres.  We are hydrating very well, as it is so hot by 10:00.

In Torre del Lago we headed inland to Pisa.

The road was a little busy, most of the cars gave us enough room. In Pisa we headed towards the train station, where our B& B was supposed to be located. We found the address, but no sign of a B&B. Italians seem to have a very different definition of what a B&B is supposed to be. This one was an apartment divided into rooms, it was more of a hostel than a B&B. Although breakfast was provided – you made your own coffee and ate Dollar Store crosissants!

Eventually we were able to get into our room and shower. At 3:30 p.m. we walked the short distance across the river to the Basilica and the Bell Tower (Leaning Tower of Pisa).

We were hoping to get tickets to climb the tower today. We had been on-line and it appeared as if you had to buy your tickets a day ahead. Unfortunately there were not any tickets available. As it turned out, you could buy tickets for the same day. The ticket office showed how many tickets were available and for what time. There were 35 tickets available for the 7:45 p.m. climb. We bought two tickets and had two free tickets to enter the cathedral. I never go into a church that I have to pay to enter.

We wandered the grounds and were amazed at the cleanliness of the area. We had a quick dinner of pasta at one of the surrounding bars/fast food areas.

At 6:15 we entered the cathedral and at 7:45 we began our climb of the tower. The tower was closed for 10 years to attempt to stop the tower from leaning any further. Inside the tower there is a plumb line – that shows the degree of the lean! At one time in its history it was 15 feet of the perpendicular, it is now about 17 inches!

The Bell Tower is only one of a few bell towers in Italy that are built away from the church. It was built as a separate tower to show the wealth of the area. However, the architects and builders did not take into account the weight of the marble and the fact that the ground is a mix of sand and marsh area. (Beware of Italian builders lol).

While we were taking photos at the top of the tower, of the view, we chatted to a couple of Americans, Michelle and Juan – who were on their first touring vacation – visiting sites and experience a different country. A really nice group of people from Rochester New York.

Ralf had wanted to walk the walls of the city, however by the time we said our farewells to the Americans, the walls were closed.

We walked back across the river to our mediocre B & B.

The wi-fi was non-existent in the B & B however if I sat on the balcony I could connect to the City\’s free wi-fi.  Unbeknownst to me I was being eaten alive by Italian Mossies that are vicious.