Blue Skies and Green Grapes

Italy Stage 08 – Tue 5^th July 2016 – Verona to Vicenza (70 Km)
Weather: 21⁰C min – 33⁰C max, hot and sunny

Route PhotosTown PhotosLinksVideoOSM MapTrip MapsGarminInteractive
 

“It isn’t the mountains ahead that wear you down. It’s the pebble in your shoe” ~ Muhammad Ali

Breakfast on the patio at the Horses House was a good way to start the day and looking up at the bluest of blue skies made me want to leap for joy. Gobbling down my cornflakes, fresh fruit, croissants and cake, I hurriedly packed my panniers and set off down the road at just after 8:30 am. Exhilaration was the emotion I was feeling as I headed for Vincenza 70 Km eastward.

Criss-crossing the backstreets I got to see the other side of Verona that is hidden from the tourists up the other end of town. When I encountered busy roads, I simply cycled along the footpath where this was the safest option, which is not a crime punishable by death in Italy (and most other European countries). Wake up Duncan!!!

After about 7 Km I branched off onto a well-compacted gravel path that ran along besides the tree-lined, slate-grey, Adige River. After a few Km this led me to a country road that took me through lush green irrigation country. At one stage there was a huge spray moving around in a circular arc that covered the road every minute or two. Not wishing to have a second shower for the day, I stopped just in time to allow the spray to pass.

Riding along on the smooth bitumen roads with not a car in sight, I felt the calmness of the peaceful countryside. On both sides of the road there were endless grapevines, all neatly trimmed and aligned perfectly in rows. Surely Italians can’t drink that much vino!

Pretty towns are par for the course in Italy, but the town of Soave was a hole in one, with its impressive turreted Piazza Cavalli, where there was a busy market in the street just inside the walls.

One thing I have noticed on my trip is how few animals I have seen, which probably explains why Italy has one of the healthiest diets in the world … mainly fresh produce and very little meat. Or maybe it is all the red vino!

Now I am waiting for my friend Volker to arrive from Padova (Padua) where we are going to ride to together tomorrow, then tomorrow night I am a guest speaker at his cycling club. It should be fun because not many of the Italians speak any English … perhaps I should just play charades!