Lake Orta
Dad's first swim
Our first beer
The days following continued in much the same vein with some cycling thrown in too! Our route took in lake Orta, lake Maggiore, lake Como (at Como and Lecco), lake Iseo, lake Garda and a few other tiny ones we found along the way. We swam everywhere we could - the best feeling after hot cycling- temperatures hit 35-40 degrees most days. The cycling ranged from horrible (big dual carriageways) to dreamy (quiet undulating lakeside roads) and became more challenging as the week went on and Dad got fitter- he was slower than me at the beginning but faster by the end! And we really enjoyed the food. I've never eaten so much pizza, risotto, pasta and ice cream in a week.
The walking-up-hills-stage which only lasted a couple of days!
Lake Maggiore - I did a solo cycle round the lake from Verbania where we were staying to see the famous Stresa. It is as posh as they say!
Dad-daughter team
Another solo cycle from Como to Bellagio and back again. It was one of my favourite roads this trip. Quiet and hugging the mountainside next to the lake. Lots of bends and ups and downs and passing through pretty villages all the way. Dreamy.
One of the villages along the Como-Bellagio road
Sunset at the Lecco end of lake Como
Sunrise at lake Garda
We finished our Italian trip with a visit to Verona. What a city! I enjoyed pedalling about seeing the place where Romeo and Juliet fell in love while Dad rested up and then we went to the opera. We saw Nabucco in the amphitheater which was an experience I won't forget.
At the beginning of the opera the audience lit candles
Excitement as it's about to start!
Since then I've left Verona and am heading north along Eurovelo 7 through the Dolomites and into Austria. I'm going solo until next week when I meet my friend Rose in Salzburg for a week pedalling together. Can't wait to get the the birthplace of The Sound of Music!
I gave up on technology for mapping and bought a paper version to track my route. So here it is- up to date a couple of days ago at least!
Stumbled across your blog from Racer Rosa - Sitting at my desk and getting extremely jealous of your amazing adventure. How long did it take to plan and what sort of planning goes into a trip like this, where do you even start planning? Good luck in the final part of your journey!
ReplyDeleteStumbled across your blog from Racer Rosa - Sitting at my desk and getting extremely jealous of your amazing adventure. How long did it take to plan and what sort of planning goes into a trip like this, where do you even start planning? Good luck in the final part of your journey!
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear from you!
ReplyDeleteWell...people do it differently- some are real planners and have everything booked before they leave, but I had a general direction in mind and planned the first few days in more detail before I left and then went with the flow. I spent quite a bit of time reading blogs about recommended routes and people's experiences in different areas and then combined that with my own interests (mountains and the beach!) and went from there. I think that if you're willing to be flexible and have the odd day of not ideal cycling then you can do a lot of planning as you go. If you're the kind of person who likes to know exactly what's happening in advance then you need to put more time in before you leave. I'm the flexible type but I have learned the value of a bit of research. I used the Eurovelo routes a bit as well as the Italy cycling guide website and a few blogs- especially crazyguyonabike which has a huge amount of detail on loads of routes in Europe. On top of that I always visit tourist offices which has meant I've picked up lots of lovely cycling paths along that I wouldn't have known about otherwise! I just use paper maps to work out how I'll get from A to B and that's worked well for me.
Do it! It's a great way to travel!
Thanks for replying and the info, very useful. I'm a family man now so sadly months of riding through Europe are at least 20 years away. A week or two with the family in tow might be something I'd get away with. Who knows, maybe one day it'll be me joining my daughter in Europe for a few weeks of riding :)
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your experience.