2013 Europe Tour: Italy or bust

At the terminal in Split - Ferry trip # 3 for the day.

Bon Giorno, well some excitement for this trip...we gate crashed an Italian wedding.
photos to come...

Our last supper in Dubrovnik in our court yard.

How did we get to here? Well, we left Dubrovnik on Thursday with a plan to stay on the island of Hvar. We rode from one end of the island to the other and found that accommodation in Hvar was rather expensive. We think if we had of had camping gear, it would have been okay to pitch a tent at one of several camp spots mostly in secluded bays. So, we decided that we would leave Hvar via the ferry from Stari Grad to Split, anticipating that we would find a suitable place to stay in Split. Onto the ferry again. We thought Split would be an exciting place to be - aah, no not really. Seemed like it was a rather dirty, vandalized and graffitied town, perhaps like a big industrial working class town. We had trouble finding accommodation, so we gave up and headed for the ferry terminal. We were able to transfer our pre-booked tickets to Thursday evening without any further cost. After some dinner we were back on the ferry to Ancona, Italy! Three ferry trips in one day, it must be a world record. Friday night we stayed at a place called Citta, a nice little town, with very reasonably priced accommodation. The service was good and the meals were delicious. We left around 10:00 am Saturday and headed west to the mountain town of Citerna, where the weather was sunny & fine. We looked at a nice fort up on the hill. Fantastic views. We then travelled north west through Anghari before ending up in Caprese Michelangelo - the town where Michelangelo was born. Deb had a wonder around the small museum there. There were replica 'busts' etc of Michelangelo's work. (Steve had a siesta) As we walked down from the Museum we could smell the aromas of an Aussie BBQ. Mmmmm lamb. We decided to have lunch in the little restaurant. It was delicious, Steve had veal steak & I had lamb chop with chips and salad. All fresh local produce. After lunch we headed towards Firenze (Florenz) expecting/hoping to find suitable accommodation. After a minor navigational problem, as we did not have all the maps loaded on the GPS, we drove around for around 5 hours up and down hills and around the middle of town into the old city. Having people taking photos of us, whilst them sitting alfresco sipping their lattes. We felt rather special. No one asked for our autograph though.
As we were riding during the day, we saw many push bike riders training up and down the roads.

The Wedding

Birthplace of Michelangelo

In the Michelangelo Museum

between 12:00 & 2:00 pm is siesta time.

Once we decided it was time to for accommodation we were finding it difficult due to a push bike race being held through Florenz! We had to ride a further 100 kms before we could get any accommodation. By this time it was 8:00 pm and rather dark.

We eventually found some accommodation at a hotel. At the time they were having a 'Royal Canine' meeting with dogs & all. We could hear the little yappers barking from our room! Then they came down to dinner!! Then during the night there was a huge thunderstorm with lots of dog barking adding to the cacophony! At breakfast we had the dogs & their owners at the table - quite a bit different to Australian hotels unless it's a guide dog. We had a whole heap of rain that day so we stayed in doors. Steve still had a sore back, so he welcomed the rest day. It was still wet & cold the day we left, we went into the small town of Lucca & did some washing. Deb had a wonder around the shops, it was Monday & to her surprise most of the shops were shut! Whilst we were waiting for the washing to finish we had another heavy shower of rain.

We donned on our wet weather gear and headed north on the motorway (toll way). We headed towards Parma and then onto Brescia where we chose a small hotel (which was previously a villa) beside the motorway. The bedroom area quite large with spa, the downside was the ensuite - Steve's belly while not enormous (no laughing) who had to squeeze between the toilet and the hand basis. Steve said it would be convenient if you were sick from both ends! Now to the spa!! We thought it would be a good idea for Steve to have a spa to try and relieve his back ache of course. Turning on the spa was not a problem, but when it came to switching off the pressure pump the air switch wouldn't operate. Steve couldn't get out of the spa as the water level would drop exposing the spout spraying water all over the floor. Steve had pressed the on/off switch many times, but no stopping it. Luckily there was a fuse box in the room that we could turn it off. A bit embarrassed we had to get the receptionist to check it out. (sorry no photos ;) )

Brescia via St Moritz to San Giacomo Filippo (Alps!)

We were travelling north / north east up several valleys through the main towns of Tione and Madonna di Campione passing through several snow bunny villages (ski resorts), before turning west and heading to the town of Tirano via the 1883 metre pass Pso. di Tonale.

At Tirano we crossed into Switzerland and headed towards St Moritz via the 2323 meter Berninapass (Video -stunning views, roads & riding).

the GPS altitude get a work out (well at least higher than in Aussie!).

From St Moritz we continued riding west down the famous Malojapasse. To make sure we experienced it properly (Stephen) after a few photos from the bottom we turned around and rode up and back down.

nice lakes, wind surfers all about (not in this shot)

Many many turns

Naughty Steve parking on the NO Stop Descent

Looking down at some of the top turns

Looking back up the pass from the west.

By this stage it was 17:50 & getting late, as per standard operation we had no committed destination so we headed to Chiavenna Parte with the fog getting quite thick as we descended in altitude. Passing through said town we did not see any suitable accommodation and the GPS pointed us north to the next town Gallivaggio and as luck would have it we passed a 'motor bike friendly motel'. Note: most hotels & resorts are not open as yet. The hotel is called 'Italo-Svizzero Apartments', thought it was great value at 90.00 euro which includes dinner, vino, bed & breakfast. So good we stayed another night!

So Today (2-Oct-2013.
We stayed an extra night in this great Biker friendly motel/Hotel.

Deb relaxing.

the view out the balcony, 19:00.

Buffalo Router, powered by DD-WRT :)

And went back to Mon St Moritz, and took a cable car ride up to 3303M! Two cable car ride actually. It was the highest we've even been and not inside a Airplane.