Conegliano 25th May

Hi from Conegliano.(Day 17)  We arrived here on Saturday and it is now Wednesday.  Tomorrow we leave for Selva de Val Gardena and cycle the Sella Ronda.
Our hotel here has been fantastic - it will be difficult for any subsequent hotels to live up to it unfortunately.  It is a "bike hotel" and they have been incredibly helpful.  They even have a publication with maps and descriptions of scenic rides around the area. We've had some great rides here, though up until today we've had some problems with finding the way out of town.  Because it is away from the major cities, it is more difficult to come across any english speaking locals for restaurant ordering or direction giving.  Tim can ask but it seems that any discussion which takes place is very very detailed and takes considerable time.

 The hotel also arranged our bikes which are all Pinarellos - and very new.  Everyone has enjoyed riding them and of course they look great.

Our first day we watched the start of the Giro in the centre of the town and once again received media attention. You can see the incredibly flattering photo of  Sara together with Tony B, Dr Wendy and Tony Sullivan.
If you can read the article you will see the interview with Sara - that we are a  group of 10 friends from australia, in Italy for a cycling holiday.  We cycle 100 klms every day and we chose Conegliano because it is a beautiful city!! what a media tart!
After watching the" sign on "we were to make our way to a village along the way - via a short-cut so we could watch the race go by.  Of course that didn't happen - instead we ended up cycling up a 10-15 klm mountain - with 10% + slopes in the searing heat.  It was very tough going - made worse because it was our first day on the bikes for a while and also because we were all geared up for a flat ride.  As well we didn't know how much more climbing was ahead of us.  I can tell you, I dont think I have every cycled kilometres which have seemed so far.  I though each  klm would never end.  It was close to mutiny among the ranks. We are very good at getting lost!
Anyway, we made it back home and would you believe have all saddled up for 3 more rides.

Selva di val Gardena

I haven't anywhere near finished writing about Conegliano but we are now in Selva di Val Gardena and the exciting news this morning is that it is SNOWING!!

I can assure you that that is very exciting for someone who has lived in North Queensland for 35 + years.

Last night our discussions were all about todays ride.  The mountains are increedibly imposing so some of  us have been quite freaked out about the prospect of cycling them.  Our planned ride was the Sella Ring or Sella Ronda - which has 4 mountain passes over approx 60 kilometers.  Of course I knew all that as well as the gradient of the climbs etc but unfortunately we had to drive over half the route on the way here as well as down a 5 kilometer pretty steep road with hairpin bends to get to the hotel. However, I dont think anything can prepare you for the narrow roads and hairpin turns with precipitous drops.  I think there will be  some very relieved people today if the  cycling is off.  

We had a good day yesterday despite a slow start.  We had just collected our bikes. which were a bit of a mixture. Our first day is always a bit disjointed as various ones get accustomed to the new gearing etc.  The bikes are all pretty good.  Wendy was not happy with her gearing, handle bars or brakes so has been back a couple of times to have the bike adjusted.  The bike man is very patient with us.  We were looking for a warm up ride without hills so were pointed in a particular direction.  Of course we were kidding ourselves! There is no such ride around here.  We knew we were in strife when around the first corner we were down a 10% slope.  However, after a few bike problems - a couple of flats - we found a place for coffee and gathered the energy to return home and ride the 5 klm hill to the start of the Sella Ring.  We got back just before the rain set in so then had a relaxing afternoon with some red wine watching the Giro on TV.

Venice

Its always difficult to know where to start! so I'll begin with here & now. (actually it was 5 days ago) We've just woken from our second night in  Venice which I am loving.  I wasn't really looking forward to Venice with a great deal of anticipation as I've heard so many mixed reactions to it but after getting off the vaporetto (public water bus) I felt a real sense of  excitement and buzz. Perhaps it was just nerves - as after having Darren and Tony drive and navigate us without incident to Marco Polo airport; checking in the rental car (returned without a scratch!!) Perhaps unusual judging by the way the atttendant went over the car with a fine tooth comb); finding our way - with luggage- to the vaporetto stop - we girls somehow managed to get us on the wrong bus run.  Consequently, despite careful planning in selecting a hotel in close proximity to the vaporetto stop, we found ourselves trudging through Venice -over stairs and canals and through narrow alleys -  with suitcases on tow and stopping at every corner for the six of us to peer at a map in order to find the hotels.  (We've seen many such sights since.)
Our hotel room is incredibly small and the shower difficult to stand in without the curtain sticking- but the location is great and when we leave we'll have just a short trip to the canal stop.
Our first night we had dinner by the canal- great dinner/shocking service; but quite an experience with boats and gondolas whizzing past.  Yesterday was fantastic- firstly we discovered our hotel included breakfast so that was definitely a highlight as we woke up starving! (How can that be? Each day we seem to eat enough for a week!) AND... they had a Nespresso machine in the breakfast room!!!
Our first plan was to follow the "Venice Food Walk" written up on one of the guide books I had borrowed from the library -  so off we set for the markets.  They were as good as promised, with beautifully laid out fruit and vegetables of all types and even better was the amazing fish market. We ended up going back there each morning.  This first morning we were early so it was all pretty quiet but when we returned the next day it was a real hustle bustle of activity. We were too distracted by all the action and shops to do our food walk on the first day but went back on the second.  It was excellent and took us through parts of non-tourist Venice so we felt that we got a feel for the real thing.  We did a grand canal tour with excellent commentary and also a serenaded gondola tour.  We felt we had really struck it lucky with that.  There were 6 of us in Venice and when Jenny asked about booking a serenaded tour with piano accordion and vocal they said we would need 2 boats so we decided it was too expensive and settled for a cheaper option.  When we arrived it turned out we were in a group of gondolas, one of which had the accordion and singer so it was great.  We were able to take our own bubbles and it was dusk so very good.

You can see that Tony has adopted the Italian scarf. It was a lot of fun and overall we both loved Venice with all the activity without the traffic noise.  We did get the canal smell first thing in the morning but it seemed to disappate pretty quickly.
It was interesting though - as our final morning was Saturday and I think a couple of cruise ships arrived. It was crowded and unpleasant so we were pleased to be leaving.  I couldn't believe what a difference it was on the weekend.

Still Amalfi Coast - Ravello/Mi

(Well it seemed very complicated to edit this post last night to explain that it should have been "published" about a week ago.  However, this morning it is easy.  amazing what a nights sleep will do.) this post was written in Amalfi)
Hi Again,  Looks like I didn't quite finish the last post; probably fell asleep while writing.
The rest of Sunday was taken with visiting some historical sites which the local area are promoting as an alternative to Pompeii  - but much work is needed to develop them to viable alternatives.  However they were interesting but we were quite hampered by the language barrier.  We arrived at our accommodation about 7.30 pm so had a couple of muslei bars for dinner as it was Sunday evening and we are not in the middle of a tourist area -and too tired to walk too far.  Our accommodation is quite stunning with views of the mediterraneann from every room - including the toilet!! It is a one bedroom apartment perched on the side of a cliff.  When we arrived we were met by Franko who refused to let tony carry his bag up the stairs; he threw one bag onto his shoulder carried the other and set off up the 3 flights of stairs. Franko is incredibly obliging and full  of information.  Tonight we had a bar-b-q on the terrace with local red wine and the local buffalo mozzarella. 
I've jumped a couple of days actually as Monday ride in the hills behind Amalfi didn't quite live up to our expectations - understandable really - after our brief but glorious moment of fame on the previous day - just couldn't maintain  the hype.  Unfortunately, there was too much driving - partly because it was just too far away and partly because Jerry - our guide got lost;  Also the weather deteriorated -by the time we finished lunch the rain moved in and it became incredibly cold.  We visited a benedictine abbey; a naturalistic park; ancient roman baths and a local farm.  Once again we didn't get home until after 7.30 pm.  However, we struggled on and had dinner at a small restaurant recommended by franco - mixed grilled seafood preceeded by foccasia and bread with olive oil and balsamic.  We tried more of the local wine - white this time and finished with lemoncello.
by the  end of the day we decided we were over Jerry so arranged for him to leave the bikes with us for an early ride to Positano.  It was pretty hilly but incredibly scenic and also quite an experience even tho the traffic was pretty good. Still - it was quite confronting with with narrow winding road and cars, buses and motorbikes whizzing past.     Jerry collected the bikes from Positono so we had plenty of time to explore and work out how to catch the bus/es back to Minori.  We had to change buses at Amalfi but were ambushed at a bar so had to wait another 3/4 hour for the next bus.  Its been a good day - tomorrow we are doing a walk and visiting a couple of Villas in Ravello.

CATCH UP

Just a quick catch-up as we have left Venice after our 3 nights there and are now in Conegliano.  Also I just found that I have not "posted" a draft written about Amalfi coast. I'll have to post it now as i cant seem to get in to edit it....so it will all be a bit out of order.

Stresa - Lake Maggiore

We are on to our third night in Stresa, which again is unbelievably beautiful.  We really have found  the northern part of Italy to be much nicer than the south.  We were warned of this - as the south has little industry and is very poor.  Consequently, once you leave the tourist area of Amalfi Coastal strip the villages are very dirty and poor looking.  The buildings we saw were all in a state of disrepair - especially the multi-storey flats/units.  Most were suffering from concrete cancer. Somethinng we have noticed in both areas though is the quality and tast of the fruit and vegetables,  The tomatoes and strawberries are superb. Also we notice that only seasonal meat, fruit and veges are available and only what is grown locally.  There doesn't seem to be the same transport of food between areas as in Australia. 
We met up with our friends at the Milan airport, picked up the car and after much discussion (over 1/2 hour) in trying to work out how to get the hand brake off we made our way to Stresa.  We've been having an unbelievably good time in Stresa. Tony & I were on dinner duty the first night; Sara & Darren on cocktail duty.  Jenny organised nibbles.  Had a great meal with lots of wine; music and dancing.  We met up with Liane and Scott.  Liane is living not to far away and is working with the AIS womens cycling team.  Our first night ended at 2.30 am and last night at 1.00 am. We still all managed to show for a 7.00am start for our first cycle - along the lake for a coffee then back.  We had to be back in good time as  we had purchased tickets for a ferry/train excursion to Switzerland - with the ferry leaving at 11.00am. 

Our hire bikes arrived at 5pm on Saturday.  Mayhem prevailed for a couple of hours as everyone was concerned to get the bikes adjusted to our carefully taken measurements.  I'm not sure why we had to provide such detailed measurements for the bikes as none of them complied with any of the measurements.  Most of us girls had brought our own saddles so Tony was much in demand - adjusting seat heights; attaching our pedals and changing saddles.  (Much assisted by Darren and Tony S - Pam & Tim were in the kitchen cooking up a storm for dinner).  However, finally  everyone declared they were happy so this mornings ride was to test our the gearing and set-ups.  All was good!!!
We had another great day today - and despite all of us declaring that we were not drinking today - we all accepted wine with our lunch on the ferry and have lined up again for Prosecco - with tomato, buffalo mozzarello and basil. 

Jenny & Sue are on dinner tonight - minestrone! Looking forward to it too!  How can I be! it took 3 months to lose 3 kg and only 3 days to put it back on!

Havent even mentioned the fantastic villa we are in..Its amazing - 8 bedrooms - 3 levels and right on the lakes edge.  We look directly out to the beautiful Borromeo islands.  I'll add some  photos when I work out how. 

cheers for now - hopefully will be back tomorrow after our ride to Mottarone. 

Amalfi Coast - Thursday 12th

Its our last night on the Amalfi coast and as usual we seem to have walked ourselves to a standstill. 
Yesterday we went to the village of Ravello as planned - it is only a 2 kilometre walk.  However, it is 2 klm of steep stairs - each way!,,,and I can tell you...thats a lot of stairs.  Ravello was beautiful - but you do get a bit blaise with such beauty around every corrner. 
Ravello sits high on the cliffs overlooking the villages along the coast -so the walk up and back had magnificant views.  We had lunch overlooking Amalfi.  It is quite amazing how they have managed to terrace, cultivate and build on every square metre. We were pretty tired by the time we arrived back home - so cooled off in the swimming pool before settling in with Prosecco and nibbles at Jennys place. 

Today Tony & I decided to brave the public transport system again to get to Pompeii.  We left it a bit late to make our decision last night so couldn't really confirm how to get there.  We purchased some bus tickets (also last night as you cannot buy tickets on the bus) and Franco had told us to get the bus to Naples at 6.00am.  Well - we did manage to get there - just the one change of bus and about 2 hours travel.  It was a bit nerve racking as at no stage were we sure we were on the right bus.  The bus went into every town and village - round and round- collecting school and university kids as well as lots of men on their way to work.  It was bedlam on the bus - everyone talks and noone listens -it seems.  Pompeii was  very interesting - we were amazed at the size and detail of the excavation.  We spent just over 4 hours there so probably saw about 1/2 of the area.  Then... had  to find our way home. After more walking and several false turns we finally found the railway station - where we could buy bus tickets??? However, we were told we should get the train to Sorrento then bus to amalfi then change bus to minori.  So..we did!! And we made it home too.  About 500metres from home we experienced the traffic jam that happens when there is an accident here. We didn't see the accident but after being stationary for about 10 minutes - decided to walk the rest of the way home.  As it is difficult for 2 buses to pass in opposite directions you can imagine the delay and the horn blowing.  The scooters remain unaffected and just scoot around all traffic into impossible spaces.   Next is the packing and off to Naples airport tomorrow to get a plane too Milan where we meet up with our friends at a Villa in Stressa on Lake Magiori.  It'll will be interesting to catch up on everyones experiences to date: Pam & Tim have been in Sardinia; Wendy in Prague, Sue in sienna, Darren & sara in Paris and Gerona and Tony S arrives from Oz. 

Amafi

Boy o Boy - where do I start.  I am behind in the blog already.  At this stage I'll have to suffice with "rome was busy; we did the mandatory open bus tour; had a great lunch at a tratorria - ate too much as I probably wanted to try all the foods I had read about in my first meal - still it was worthwhile and I guess the discomfor will pass.  Other than that we just did lots of waking and a bit of shopping.  Unfortunately my overall impression of Rome is that it was sufficated with tourists (of which we were part of course).  The area around the Spanish steps and streets around were a bit like a metro station at peak hour.  It really was unbelievable.  And..its not even tourist season!!!

Yesterday was incredible - what an experience.  We found ourselves standing in front of the village crowd as if we were some sort of celebity - accepting a large heavy trophy each from the mayor.  The local band was playing and there was much hooplah! Of course we could not understand a word of what they were saying except the occasional "special guests from australia" - and everyone would clap!!!! Tony was obviously overwhelmed as he decided to give a little thank you speech over the mic - IN ITALIAN!! He will usually not even get up to say anything when in english.  But it was not really too different as i stood beside him and prompted - so just the usual really!! I have to giggle every time I think of the occasion. 

The actual ride was probably one of the most dangerous we have ever done. There was an incredible amount of shouting over the loudspeaker from an open top BMW mini which led the procession with the local polizia - lots of them.  the local official kept shouting out "ATTENZIONE! ATTENZIONE!" and calling us to the front of the procession.  However, kids are the same the world over so they kept racing to thhe front of the procession and forcing their way through non-existant spaces and having the occasional stack in front of us.  How we avoided a crash is one of lifes wonders! Everytime I heard a crash behind I was sure it would be Jenny or Tony - but then you would hear all the kids laughing at whoever crashed so it was obviously one of them.  It would never do to have the "special australian guests" having a crash in the middle of the procession.  It was absolute mayhem.

Then - after the official presentations we were quickly ushered into a small room labeled "LOCALE POLIZIA" where 2 bottles or Prosecco were popped! There was more mayhem and  wine was poured into disposable cups for all - much "Salute" ing - more mayhem and drinking of wine.  Then all the cups collected, wine bottles put away and doors opened.  Our gifts for the mayor - seemed to be appreciated - and fortunately I had taken a small packet of gold kangaroo pins so was able to hand them out to all the local polizia. There was a considerable amount of cheek pressing and grazie mille s.  It was really a lot of fun and we were totally bemused by all that was happening.  Most of this time there was one polizia in particular making a loud announcements - interspersed with singing and performing.

Well after that

ROME

Finally, just when I was ready to give up - i have managed to access the blog site and post a new blog.  Its been a busy day in Rome so this will have to be short. 

we had a good flight - if spending over 20 hours in flight can possibly ever be good.  i certainly asked myself  during the flight why I was flying to the other side of the world. Hopefully tho - the next couple of weeks will show it to be all worth while.
Rome started with great promise as we disembarked from the plane and immediately boarded an electric bus to take us to the main terminal.  I commented to Tony that obviously my readings were incorrect as I had read that Rome was one of the most inefficient airports in the world!! He thought I should perhaps I should not make judgement too soon.... and before long we found ourselves standing in a great throng of people with noone knowing what was happening and no signs to advise whhich direction to go.  After probably about 15-20 minutes the crowd started to move and when we rounded the corner - could see that we were lining up to go through immigration.  (Note that "lining up" is not really discriptive of the true situation which which was really more haphazard mishmash of people with no resemblance of "lines or queues.)

However, after that we collected our luggage without mishap and identified our transfer man - holding up the sign "Margaret Buchan'.  We were advised that there was a "general strike" that day so we had to wait for another transfer vehicle and the traffic was to be particularly heavy. 

D- Day: Departure for Italy

Well, its Departure Day today - 4.45 pm from Townsville.  You can only pack, weigh and repack so many times.  If I dont hurry up and get on the plane I will have added so many "last minute"/"might come in handy" items that my 16.5kg bag will be 26.5kg. I had better zip-tie the latches soon or it will be out of control.  

I tried to edit my previous post to include a photo of our "Team Italia" but that seemed to be beyond my meagre capabilities.  I did manage to add a couple of links but then couldn't get back to add the photos - hence the new post.   

  

From left is our team at breakfast: Tim, Jenny, Pam, Sue, Sara, Liz (not coming to Italy) Wendy, Tony S, Marg, Tony B and Darren.






We've had a couple of cycling trips - the photo below is at Colllinsville - breakfast - during the Bowen - Collinsville ride.

 On the right is Pam & Tim - breakfasting at Yungaburra during the Cairns/Atherton tableland ride - after climbing the Gillies.
















Then we have a picnic stop on our way to the Lake Taupo ride in New Zealand.  Lots of fun so we are all looking forward to this adventure too.  Next post should be from Rome.

Monday 2nd May - Labour Day Holiday

Three days to go until we leave on our much anticipated holiday in Italy.  A group of 10 of us have organised a cycling and sightseeing holiday for 4 weeks.  Our fellow travellers are Pam, Tim, Wendy, Tony S, Jenny, Sue, Sara and Darren.



Tony and I are so organised that we feel a bit pathetic.  We've packed, weighed and repacked so barring last minute changes we shouldn't have too much panic.  This time we have our passports packed  - along with our tickets.
Pam, Tim and Sue left yesterday. Pam & Tim should be landing in Prague very soon.  Sue is on her way to Milan I think.  Each of us has a week or so prior to meeting up in Stresa.
Our first stop is Rome - Hotel Campo de Fiori for 2 nights then on to Ravello on the Amalfi coast for 5 nights in an apartment which overlooks the Amalfi coast. www.hotelcampodefiori.com
We dont have anything planned for Rome - just to wander the streets to find places to eat and drink.  Apparently the roof top of our hotel is very special - ideally suited to evening drinks and nibbles.  Our hotel is located adjacent to the largest food market in Rome so we shouldn't have any problems with the nibbles part.
We're then off to Amalfi - this has become a bit of an adventure in the last week or so.  We had organised a cycle tour of the Benevento region (hills and farmland behind Amalfi) on Monday 9th May - with Jerry - from "That's Amore -  Cycling holidays in Italy".  http://www.rentalbikeitaly.com/2011/04/new-cycling-shore-excursion-in-amalfi.html About a week ago we received the following email:

"Hi again Margarer

the 8th May will be the day of bicycle in Italy.

I want tell you some details about my company.

We are working with local institutions under the shadow of Vesuvius volcano for build a sustainable tourism. 

In the morning of 8th April in Saviano village (very famous for his carnival) will be arranged small cycling excursion on the roads of village.

In this area we have 1 important archaeological prehistoric site, early Christian, much old than Pompeii. 

The name is Catacombe of Cimitile.

This afternoon have called me the Mayor of Saviano Village and Institutional press office have asked me if you are interested to participate to this ride.

Around noon we will be guest of this Institution and we will go to local restaurant for eat typical food of Vesuvius area.

My question is : 

you and your friends want be guest with me in this day ? 

I can pick up you and your luggages at the airport (if you don't will have a car) and transfer for free to the apartment in Pagliarulo, at the end of the lunch.

The lunch will be offered by the institution.

Bikes are included in the riding.

Can be an occasion for have an unique experience!

Let me know, 

I need to confirm for welcome organization and for communicate to press office this information, will be maked an article on great newspaper 'il mattino of Naples'

Jerry "

Naturally, we said we'd accept the invitation - so we had to madly change our arrangements as we were booked to go by train from Rome to Salerno.  After changing our train tickets to arrive at Naples - we had another email suggesting Jerry pick us up in Rome so now we are going by underground to Anagnina station - where he will pick us up to take us directly to Saviano village.  In the meantime we have learnt that when we arrive in Saviano we will go by police escort to the front of the procession and will finish off with an official lunch with the mayor.  Jerry kept advising us that we would receive presents from the mayor so then we had to chase around to get some suitable souvenirs for Jerry and the mayor.  Anyway - we're looking forward to the adventure.
Just have to survive the next couple of days!