Riding in Tuscany

[tagesk]

I have a job that includes riding more than 20.000 km per year in Toscana, Italy. Needless to say, I like my job. My main tool, my friend and partner is Bamsefar. He is a 2000 BMW R1150GS that will wash whenever it rains.

To compensate for his lack of personal hygiene, he is well farkeled. Fogs and two extra high-beam (Hella), LED brake lights, also inside the blinkeres (Thanx Nippy Norman!) and also installed high up in the GIVI, lowered pegs front and rear, Wilbers, Wunderlich touring screen, Garmin Zumo, a Canon camera for in-flight photography and sufficient 3M reflective material to ruin any shot if the flash fires (and make the bike look like a Christmas tree).

If you don't like to see pictures of food and wine, then this thread will not be for you.

Hope you like my riding, cooking and reporting style

Finally one technical detail: The text belonging to an image will always be below the image. For consistency it must either always be above or always below - I have chosen below (and I try very hard to stick with it)

[TaSK]

 

[tagesk]

11.000 km in one week

For many reasons, I traveled 11.000 km the first week of June this year. The week started with a (very) boring 4.000 km flight to Tromsø, Norway. The image above (the image I write about is always above what you read!) was taken at midnight (let me repeat that: Taken at midnight!) and the place is not called The Land of the Midnight Sun without reason. However, there is a down side: The water is not an alpine lake, it is the sea, and that white stuff you see is not flowers or fruit trees in bloom. I know: The white stuff looks nice, but it is not quite that nice when you have to live with it. I don't have to live with it any more

I ventured all the way up there to participate in a PhD defence. The best possible position is the one of advice. If all goes well the advice gets (a lot) of the glory. If it fails, the student didn't work hard enough. PerM did well and I am sure you would be thrilled to learn all about the security-protocol programming-language Obol. However, that will have to wait.

36 hours after my arrival I departed, and flew another 4.000 km home. Having been home 24 hours, I got on the bike for a cross-Europa ride.

I have been fortunate enough to have students from several countries. One of them is Dutch. After some hesitation, he decided that when I left Norway, so would he. He has moved to Delft in The Netherlands. It would be terrible rude of me not to visit him in his new life.

Capa delle Famigla understands very well what a man needs, and does not object to me riding there heart

I have a Canon camera mounted on the bike so that I can capture things while I fly along. The camera is really crappy, but it works, and I wait for an upgrade until I know for certain what I want.
I can turn the camera to the left or make it point backwards. In that case I usually get myself. Here in my discretely yellow vest, after lunch, just having entered the Autostrada.

My plan was to ride from Pisa to Delft on Monday, visit my friend on Tuesday and Wednesday, and then ride home on Thursday. It is about 1.500 km each way, and it turned out that I would be unable to check in at the B&B I had booked after 21h, so riding up on one day become impossible.
Furthermore, Capa delle Famiglia doesn't like me riding 1.500 km (or more) per day. Thus I'll work at home on Sunday, have lunch and a nap, then ride a few hundred kms, stay overnight, and arrive in Delf at the B&B well before nine on Monday evening.
The rain started 10 minutes after my departure, and the images shows bamsefar as I pull on the rain gear. I also move the camera from the left position (out in the free air) to the right position (behind the screen).

Thus I can take interesting images such as this one!

I ride without incident (or events) from Pisa north along the coast to La Spezia, turning north and crossing the Appeninni (for a suitable spelling of the name of those mountains) on teh Autostrada at Passo di Cisa, crossing the Pianura Padana (Plain of Po) up to Milano, Crossing the border at Como, and stopping for fuel again at the big autostop south of San Gottardo (which is a famous pass over the Alps). I had salad for it is one of the few things that is very hard to not succeed in. The coffee, however, was awful. I'm still south of the Alps, and they spoke good Italian, but the coffee was German style. You can say many things about Switzerland, but the quality of the coffee decreases for every km you go north.

(This is a test: Can I embed YouTube videos?)

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The video (if ukgsr.com supports YouTube video) shows how I draw out from the Autostop and onto the A2 again.

When you approach San Gottardo, you have three options: Take the A2 in a 17 km tunnel through the whole thing, take Road 2 (the new road) over the pass, or the old road over the pass.
Having passed (no pun intended) the tunnel, and started on the climb, I got to this one: Old (blue) or new (green)? I take the blue

However, the old one has cobble stones, which might not be the ideal thing to ride on when it is raining. In fact, I almost low-side in a hairpin with a several-hundred meter drop on the outside. So I chicken out, and turn back on the new road at the first possibility.

As I continue to climb, the rain intensifies and the fogs gets worse. Notice the car heading towards me here.

At one point the fog clears and I can suddenly see the old road coming up (I've just exited a tunnel on the new road). I promise: On my way back I will ride the old road!)

I descend on the north side of the Alps in steady rain. Riding like this isn't very nice. After some km I arrive at the lake Vierwaldstattersee, and I turn off the A2 Autostrada at Beckenried at random (it is here. The first thing I see is Hotel Edelweiss (webpage here). I parked Bamsefar in a locked garage, had a warm shower, some Swiss food (not worth discussing!) and three nice beers (worth discussing, but I had forgot my camera). Then off to my room in order to write a letter to a friend to tell her how nice Capa delle Famigla is to let me go on tours like this on my own.

546 km on a rainy afternoon.

Tomorrow I'll ride through Germany (in good weather!), then to Delft in The Netherlands (via Enschede).

Thank you for your attention.

[TaSK]

 

[Deleted account W]

I'm hooked, keep them coming

 

[Dave56]

Excellent, looking forward to the next episode, keep em coming

 

[tagesk]

11.000 km in one week: Part 2

[To recap: Having first traveled 8.000 km in the beginning of the week, I try to do another 3.000. This time on Bamsefar.
I've reached Switzerland on my way to Delft, The Netherlands.)

I get up at seven. Not because I like it, generally I don't. In fact, for me, it is much better to gain hours by staying up late
than getting up early. But I am fully awake, excited. I like to ride, and I like to ride for hours and hours.

If you like terminology with negative connotations, you would say that I am a loner. So be it. A day on the bike, a day without
interruptions, a day in solitude - that is a good day. And today I will ride through Germany and into the Low Countries. All alone.
But although it isn't raining, the clouds are low. Not as led gray as yesterday, but I want blue sky. Why do you think I moved
from Petro-dollar rich Norway (where the biggest problem is how to spend the money without driving up prices!) to Tuscany if
not for blue sky?

I go into the reception, find the key to my garage, and roll out Bamsefar. When I ride him around the daily errands, he drinks
about one liter of oil per 1.000 km we ride. But when riding more than 500 km in one go, and he doesn't even drink enough
for me to see a decrease in the glass. The day in January when I rode 1.682 km in one (very!) long day, he drank about 100
ml on the whole day. To me it seems as he uses most oil when I park him on teh side stand. At least, he makes a lot of
smoke in those cases.
After having stood on the main stand all night I let him rest on his side while I prepare for breakfast. Notice the rain
gear - I'm not confident.

It would be an outright lie to say that the coffee was the best I have ever tasted. Not revolting as in "Nescafé", and
not offending as in "American coffee", but still not something that will make the first two hours a pleasure. Not the
thing that will comfort me when my butt gets sore ( you know: "ai, ai, ai, my butt hurts, but that coffee this morning
was so pleasing I'll endure").
I am certain the bread was fresh (as in "not old"), but who wants bread for breakfast? I want a fresh svoglia con
ricotta. That's what I want.

But it must be said that the dining room was very nice and estethically pleasing. The hotel has been extended
two times, and this is the old part. Very nice - I sat a while to savour the style and qualities of the place (and
to forget the coffee).

Time to go - I pull on the rain gear. Yesterday I was too late, and I hated it. You can clearly see the A2
higher up on the hill. Low clouds, it has rained (all night?), and I prepare for another wet day.

However - the moment I get away from the Alps, the sky opens up to my favorite colour: Blue. I stop several
times and slowly change from a rider with water-proof and well insulated gear, to one in proper summer
equipment. Ready for a fine day on the Autostrada (and Autobahn later).

I catch up with a Harley. He rides barely over the limit, and it strikes me that there might be a reason.
I decide to use him as a tug and check out if he is helpful.

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He is (sorry for the crappy images). On several occations he signals for me to slow down, point at a little
green box next to the road (camera!) and then speeds up again. I ride with him from Luzern to Basel.
Thank you

As I average about 100 km/h I need to stop every second hour for petrol. Even though Bamsefar
hasn't tasted synthetic oil in his 100.000 km long life, he still runs at about 17 to 18 km on a liter of
petrol. And that is with a 202 cm tall Viking at the helm (at significantly more than 100 km ), a
50 cm tall wind screen from Wunderlich, and side cases. I've passed into Germany and this is my
first stop there (not far from the border - the Swiss have some strange, non-compatible currency
so I don't know how to purchase things there).

Even though the coffee is German (I'll leave it to you fantasy to find words to describe a drink produced
by a German machine, in Germany, after the button labelled "cappuccino" has been pushed. In Hitch hikers
Guide to the galaxy it is described as "A drink not quite entirely unlike coffee".). I sit for several minutes
in the sun, enjoying the artifical lake and watching the fish.

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Then I need to get rid of yesterdays dinner, and I find a marvel of German engineering: A self-cleaning
toilet with a revolving seat. And trust me - it works!

A sad thing to see.

But then, some fun.
If you haven't been on the German Autobahn, there is a side of yourself you don't know. Look at the sign on
both sides of the road: End of the 120 km/h speed limit. Or, in other words, no speed limit. The question is: Do
you manage to refrain from checking the maximum speed of your vehicle at least once?

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If you manage to refrain, the film above shows you what it is like to ride a 2000 model BMW R1150GS at
185 km/h. After a few minutes the thrill is gone and I found that 140 km/h is my favorite cruising speed.
I don't know how much petrol Bamsefar uses with the throttle wide open for kilometer after kilometer, but
I expect it is quite a lot.

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The German Autobahn is very, very boring. After a few hours the only thing to do is to make the passing
of trucks as eventful as possible. Not very exiting (to say the least!) but what can a man do?

Finally I arrive in Nederland. I enter at Venlo in the south. But just as I have entered I feel the urge to visit
Enschede in the west. So I turn back into Germany, ride up on the Autobahn 31, and enther Nederland again at Enschede.

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Once upon a time, I used to live here. The film shows a neighborhood in the east part of Enschede, a pub
(De Toekomst), and little else. But for me, it was a place where I spent 18 exiting month. I draw to a halt
just in front of the door to the apartment where I used to live.
Oh well.

I motor on, and I recall the three most striking features of Nederland (and manages to capture them all in one
image). First there are bicycles everywhere. Not at all like it was 15 years ago when I lived there, but still
many more than what I am used to here in Italia.
Second, the bridge carries the train. WHen I lived there the Koploper (a train with a "bulb" up front just as
the Jumbo jet) was new and exiting. Now it looks old.
Third, the curved facades. I don't know what it is about the Dutch, but all building have curved facades.

I ride west from Enschede to Delft, where the Zumo directs me without hesitation to B&B Oosteinde.
Website here. Excellent service, good price, and secure parking for
the bike (what more can you ask?).

It turns out that when I arrive, there is nobody around. The reason is that Italy was being beaten by Nederland during
some sport thing. And the Dutch are even more interested than the Italians. As I don't care I had the rear part fo the
piazza (Dierenplats) all for my self. Dutch food, about which I will have more to say later.

On my way back to the B&B I came across this outstanding beautiful car. Any info out there about it?

1062 km on a nice day.

Tomorrow I'll check out Delft, eat Dutch food, drink Belgian beer, and watch the leaning tower.

Thank you for your attention.

[TaSK]

 

[Tricky]

Great report so far tagesk. I like your style.

 

[kanhulk13]

The key with Germany is to get off the Autobahn. As you said...Autobahn is boring once you've done the max speed thing a few times. You drove right by the Palatinate/Pfalz which is a great wine area with some great roads in the woods (Pfalzer Wald). Try the area around Neustadt an der Weinstrasse on the way back.

Dutch food...oh...french fries with ketchup and mayonnaise...bitter ballen...ne...in the end I'm sure you'll go for Indonesian food. Reis Tafel anyone?

Ride safe..we'll all be monitoring your journey!

 

[tagesk]

11.000 km in one week: Part 3

(To recap: I've flown 8.000 km, and then ridden Bamsefar from Pisa to Delft (via Enschede). Then I saw Nederland
beat Italia in some sport-thing.)

I like to ride my bike. I like to ride my bike for hours and hours. I like to see the terrain change as I ride. I don't mind
10 hours in the saddle. So when I plan I whole day of uninterrupted riding I am excited. Too exited, it turns out.
When I wake up it is still dark. The clock at next to the bed glows nicely and keep me company. I try to sleep by
thinking about what I have seen in Delft during my two day visit.

I don't know what the Dutch think they eat, but in reality they eat patat. You can have it met of zonder. I recommend
zonder. I believe you need dedicated genes to digest that grease you'll get if you say met. I, for one, don't have
those genes.

The church in the background is the nieuwe kerk (the new church) in downtown Delft. They started on this supposedly
new church in 1351.

The thing they think they eat, but in practice don't eat, is the nieuwe haring. Now this, as opposed to the grease, is
excellent! All Dutch I know say that all Dutch eat it, but admit that they personally don't. Try it next time - excellent!

The Dutch have bicycle garages taking up precious parking lots from cars. I like that!

Delt sports a properly leaning tower, although it leans only about 1/3 of "mine" in Pisa.

Finally, you can buy Belgian beer so that inspiration can be found to write letters to friends
during the day.

And during the evening.

But it doesn't help. I don't fall back to sleep. You see, I have awfully much to do tomorrow at the office.
So I really need to get back home today. Home, fortunately, is on the other side of Europa. See for yourself here. I am excited and unable to sleep because I need to ride a substantial leg today.

Getting up at 3 isn't my thing. But what can I do? I grab the camera and make sure I'll remember what time I got up.
Then I get up, get dressed, carry down the bags as quite as I can (if you have ever seen a typical Dutch stairs you
know you can't walk in them without making noise), and put everything on the bike. Then I push the bike out from
the back garden and onto the street (don't want to wake everyone in the neighborhood), and fire him up.

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I ride off at 4 in the morning. It is cold, and I find a 24-hour gas station where I fill up the bike, buy coffee and a candy of
some sort. I'll have breakfast in a while - now I need to get going. I'ts 04:30 when I am ready and finally get going for real.
At about five the sun rises. Nederland is flat, flat, flat so I enjoy the sunrise in all it's colours.

At ten (after five hours of riding) I am in Germany on the Autobahn, and I am getting tired. Fortunately, I have inherited
from my father the ability to grab a power nap whenever I want. So I pull over at one of the service areas, find a bench,
and sleep for 20 minutes. No more. I wake up and feel refreshed. Change into summer gear, drink a bottle of water, and
I am ready for another go.

Bamsefar is in better shape today, it seems. With a 50 cm tall touring windshield from Wunderlich, a 202 cm tall captain
who doesn't hide for anything (not even the wind, regardless of how much it is: He will not be be seen with his head
tucked in to reduce drag ) and who is a small passenger above 100 kg, with original side cases and a huge 52-liter
GIVI, Bamsefar manages 187 km/h. For a long, long, long time.

I simply can't understand the Germans: How can you let us come and pollute your country (noise and exhaust) without
paying anyting? I means, the Swiss demand 30 euro for setting a tyre on their A2. But here I can let Bamsefar suck in
2-3-4 (?) liters per 10 kilometers without paying anything?
Do you hear me: I WANT TO PAY!

At five, a "dinner" and a lot of fuel after my nap, I suddenly can see the Apls in front of me. I have passed through
Germany without seeing anything of interest. Now I've passed through about half of Switzerland and I haven't seen
anything. But now, now I will climb the Alps!

Next installment will show you San Gottardo, the old road, how to pass over the Appeninni, and what not.

Thank you for your attention!

[TaSK]

 

[tagesk]

Forgot "lunch"

I forgot this one.

This is what a man looks like when he has ridden about 800 km (about 500 miles) and still have 600 km (about 400 miles) to go before slipping into bed
with Capa delle Familgla, on the North side of the Alps when he knows he will ride the Old Road over Passo di San Gottardo AND he has to endure a "lunch" consisting of two industrially-made "panini" filled with "salad" and greasy "meat".
They offered me a plastic cup when I asked for a GLASS (I declined).

Part of the gloom comes from the fact that the man in question has just paid 3 euro in order to have coffee afterward, but has noticed that the coffee
machine is not at all made by Pavoni or Rancilio or any other trustworthy producer of coffee machines. As far as could be determined from his side of
the counter, the machine sported a badge saying SIEMENS.

Gloom.

[TaSK]

 

[Duchess]

Excellent report

Thank you.

The thing they think they eat, but in practice don't eat, is the nieuwe haring. Now this, as opposed to the grease, is
excellent! All Dutch I know say that all Dutch eat it, but admit that they personally don't. Try it next time - excellent!


[TaSK]

Quick question ... is that fish cooked? It looks very raw to me.

By the way, I see you've found the


Keep it coming

 

[tagesk]

11.000 km in one week: Part 4

Again, on the north side of the Alps, I rode into cloudy weather. The pass is obviously open (I was there three days ago!),
but it is still nice to see with for yourself that it is indeed the case.

For your reference, we are talking about this spot. Notice the A2, which passes in the San Gottardo Galleria (tunnel). I've just started on the climb, towards south.
A few of those hair pins, and you arrive at Andersmatt.

It is odd, but as you climb the Alps, suddenly you arrive at a big plain. Sure, the mountains rise on all sides, but a large green
plain is the last thing to expect. And, the train runs happily along it. How the train got there, and get out of there, is a mystery
I need to look into. But you can see the train line next to the road as it crosses the plain.
Sorry about the crappy quality, but it was taken while riding.

From Andersmatt a few hair pins takes you into this wide valley that rises upwards. You can see the old road down at the bottom
while the new one cuts along the side (again, sorry about the quality).

Suddenly I am at the top (not that I am surprised; I have been here many times in the past). But my point is that on the north
side, the road is not very steep up to the pass.

I get off and snap a picture of Bamsefar just there on the top. A car draws to a halt and a man gets out "Sir, would you like me
to take a picture of you and your bike?" he asks. I am so surprised by this courtesy that I forget to remove the ugly yellow vest.
Only afterwards does it strike me that he might have gotten into his car and driven away with my camera.

Passo del San Gottardo is 2.108 meters, and there are basically no vegetation and lots of snow and ice. I offer you a little bike
porn: Naked bike poses with white snow as contrast to his slim figure.
Notice the pavement: it is cobble stones. I will return to it in a moment.

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I ride over the pass, and find the old road between the two houses next to the lake. Check out the image from Space here. The road marked 2 (in blue) is the new
road over the pass. It offers some spectacular views, it has proper asphalt, but it also has quite a few tunnels to take you down safely.
The old road, on the other hand, offers hilarious topology, very, very slippery cobble stones, absolutely no rails or safety installations to
save you if you make a mistake. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind on what to do.

The video will show you a few minutes of my ride down the south side. If you manage to remain cool and un-exited while riding down here,
you should probably seek medical help

After coming down, and calming down, I get on the A2 again and head for home. This was the first sign sporting an Italian city.
Notice the car - about 100 meters further down the driver finally decides to go to San Bernardino rather than to Milano.
He misses the yellow barrier with a few cm

Finally, the border. Almost home.

It was here, at Como, that I once arrived by car and was told by a guard that as I hadn't brought my passport I would not be allowed
entry into Switzerland. "Fair enough" I said, "but I need to turn the car". Then he said "If I let you turn the car, you are already inside
Switzerland. And as a Norwegian you can not be expelled only because you don't have a passport on you. So I will not let you enter.
"Please go in reverse!".
I said "Eh, officer, there are circa 600 cars behind me."
To which he calmly responded "What is the question?".

I was there for the better part of an hour trying to get 600 cars to back away to that I could get out of the barriers.


Oh well, this time I was waved through.

I do as quite a number of Italians do: I stop at the first Autostop and have an espresso. Excellent! Almost back home!

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I ride down to Milano, race over the Pianura Padana (Plain of Po), reach Parma, and turn towards the Appeninni. The last
obstacle between me and Toscana.
However there has been an accident up the mountain, and the line of cars and trucks goes on for at least ten of kilometers. The
film shows how to deal with such an amount of cars, Italian way. I have no idea if this is legan (probably isn't) but you don't want
to be the only motorcycle among thousands of cars while all the other riders are at home having dinner.
The speed here is about 50 km/h so it is "completely safe".

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Finally (finally!) I reach Pontremoli and can exit from the Autostrada to bypass the accident. The weather is nice, so I opt for
crossing over the Passo della Cisa (and not turn in on the Autostrada beyond the accident). The film shows how I catch up with
a truck (after having apssed 100 cars stuck behind it), try to pass by chicken out, then blast by and enjoy some riding before I
catch up with the next batch of cars.
The road is the SS62 from Parma to La Spezia. Take it rather than the Autostrada next time.

On top of the pass I can see down in Toscana - have you seen anything this nice lately?

I finally arrived home at 23:45. As I was sitting on Bamsefar, and looking at Bamsefar already parked in my driveway,
I thought "OK, TaSK, this is it: You have had a stroke. This is all a dream. You think you are on your bike, but as
you can see your bike, you must be in a hospital. Or worse." Not nice.

Finally I noticed that "my" bike has German plates. Thus it can't be my bike I'm away and she has "guests". Instead I rush in
while I am working up a rage, just to find Capa della Famiglia having dinner with a former student and his wife.

The dry facts:

I rode 1.438 km (894 miles) today. I have enjoyed every mile!

The ride took almost 18 hours, with a total of three hours not riding.

Average speed while riding was 97 km/h (60 mph) while total average speed was 80 km/h (50 mph).

The profile starts below zero (Nederland, you know), then climb over some hills that I didn't notice, then the Passo del
San Gottardo, the Plain of Po, Passo della Cisa, along the Versilia from La Spezia to Pisa, and the 200 meter climb up
to my village.

Ah - what a wonderful day!

Thank you for you attention.

[TaSK]

 

[tagesk]

Quick question ... is that fish cooked? It looks very raw to me.

Keep it coming

It is very, very raw. With raw onion.
For men!

[TaSK]

 

[tagesk]

No edit?

An image didn't make it to the report above - I must have mistyped the link. But now there is no "edit"-button. How do I edit an article from yesterday?

If I can't rectify errors, it is a show-stopper.

[TaSK]

 

[Duchess]

An image didn't make it to the report above - I must have mistyped the link. But now there is no "edit"-button. How do I edit an article from yesterday?

If I can't rectify errors, it is a show-stopper.

[TaSK]

There is a time out edit on all posts for the originator but its only open for a certain length of time (not sure how long TBH) after which you have to make contact with a moderator that looks after that section of the forum.

I'll get some more information for you TaSK ... in the meantime it might be useful to you if you would consider being a subscribed member here. The benefits of being a subscriber are listed on this link below:

http://www.ukgser.com/subscriptions.htm

Sorry I can't help with the editing on this occassion .... I've put a shout out for you.




Raw fish and onion

 

[Paul G (BHT)]

An image didn't make it to the report above - I must have mistyped the link. But now there is no "edit"-button. How do I edit an article from yesterday?

If I can't rectify errors, it is a show-stopper.

[TaSK]

The is a 1 hour time limit on editing posts, outside this time you can always email me and I'll will do any edits you may require.

Superb reading there by the way

 

[MrIFan]

The video will show you a few minutes of my ride down the south side. If you manage to remain cool and un-exited while riding down here,
you should probably seek medical help
[TaSK]

Quote of the month so far

Nice report tagesk, can't wait for more

 

[Shrimpo]

On my way back to the B&B I came across this outstanding beautiful car. Any info out there about it?

[TaSK]

I think this is a 1961 Dodge Lancer

 

[tagesk]

Rifugio Carrara

In my view, one can not embark on a journey without proper preparation. In fact, a famous Norwegian used to say (quoting from memory):

When someone [himself] is well prepared, and things go well, they call it luck. When someone is ill prepared [Scott], and things do not go well, they call it unfortunate. That is not fair.​

So we need to prepare.
The problem at hand is that a Super Toscan in my wine cellar has developed mold on the bottle. This is a very dangerous sign - immediate action is needed.

We start by having a generous Campari with olives from the village. Then farro the way I like it: With juice from a few lemons, some pepper,
some oil, and a few olives. To this we had a summer-warm Chianti. Then we prepared ossi buchi the the way they do in Milano. To this we had the
wine; a 1998 Castellaccio from Fattoria Uccelliera in Fauglia. :
Having enjoyed that, we head off to bed for more fun.

Next morning we are, like Amundsen, well prepared to meet the challenges fo the day. And we ride off int he Tuscan morning. The thing is, we are working on a book. A book about the places in Toscana that is worth a visit, but that you can't find in guide books. It is grueling work to visit all these places, spread out over all of Toscana. But someone has to do it - we do not shy away from our duties!

We have received a tip about an extraordinary place to have lunch. Here is what you do: You ride to Carrara, then climb about 1.000 meters in elevation to Campocacina. Leave the bike and follow the path into the forest. When you reach the top of the hill, there is a house. And there, with a view of the ocean that is simply stunning, you can have your lunch.
Seen from space, it is here.

Even though you need to walk to get there, and most that arrive have spent a day in the mountains, the lunch they serve is a proper one.
We had zuppa toscana followed by arista con verdure grigliate. Then some pecorini con miele.

Finally, yoghourt and mirtilli.

Then, a nap in the sun. The air up here at 1.320 meters above the sea is so crisp that after a proper lunch, it is impossible not to sleep a little.

After the nap, after the coffee, after a walk in the forest, and after a long and relaxed hour talking to Capa delle Famiglia, we head down to the bike. The picture shows the marble quarries above Carrara, carrara itself, Marina di Carrara down by the sea, and the Mediterranean ocean.

Just as we are leaving I notice that even butterflies like my HELLA FF-100.

Thank you for your attention.

[TaSK]

 

[Aidan1150]

A very interesting read Task. Thanks for posting.

 

[BoRaBoRa]

Good work Tage, thank you for sharing...