Easy Riders: November 2013

Tuesday 5 November 2013

Florence

A bike lane took us into the city centre of Florence and Piazza di Santa Maria Nouva. The flag lets people know where we are from and people approached us, some wanting to take their photo next to the bikes, pretending they have ridden them. We found a very big campsite right in the city near Michelango Piazza. We walked into the city from the piazza descending the steps to the river and crossing a bridge, one of the bridgeshas jewelry shops along each side and is known as the golden bridge. There were three other cyclists staying there, one from Sweden riding to China, one from England on a three month tour of Italy and one from Spain cycling around the world. It was great to speak to some other cyclists and exchange information.

Not as grand as Rome, but Florence is a nice city nestled along the Arno River. We had a lot of rain the first night, then it cleared up and we were able to walk around Florence in cool but dry weather. We visited Santa Croc, another magnificent basilica with an elaborate gold alter, frescoes, paintings and Michelangelo’s crypt. Nearby was a museum of Michelangelo’s belongings and sketches held in trust by a family member. The big ticket list for Florence was the statue of David. On display in Galleria dell Accademia the statue is magnificent. Carved from a single piece of marble weighing 19 tonnes, Michelangelo has crafted this statue with muscles rippling and veins visible. There are two copies around Florence, one in Michelangelo Piazza and the other at the entrance to Palazzo Vecchio where young women were posing with arms outstretched while their friends got the camera angle just right to look like they were fondling the naked statue amidst peals of laughter, they were having great fun.

Around Florence

Umbria – Perugia and Assisi

As we were leaving Mike found he had a puncture, the third for him since leaving Cranbourne, so he mended it before we were on our way. We had no trouble getting out of the city and were soon in the countryside. We rode through Umbria, a very scenic part of the country, up and down small hills all day, lots of trees and farming. It rained on and off for three days, just light rain, we were able to shelter under trees and garages to keep dry. Numerous abandoned farm houses and we sheltered in an empty hay shed one night, another night a farmer offered the front lawn to camp on the use of the gazebo to cook under. We came to the small walled town of Saint Gemini, paved narrow streets, banners hanging from buildings, a small piazza busy with locals buying goods before the shops shut for lunch, we could not find any reference to this place in our tourist map but it was a lovely place. We bought cheese and bread and sat in the piazza and had lunch.

We arrived in Peruga a bit wet and bedraggled and were glad to book into a small hotel inside the old city wall, there was a long climb up to the town, all of the old towns were built on a hill for protection. Peruga is an ancient town, paved streets and many steps up to a large piazza where bars and restaurants abound. It is a university town with old churches and lots of nice shops. We had a couple of days here, on one of them we caught a bus to Assisi about twenty kilometres away. Assisi is an old walled city set on a hill with all the charm of a medieval town, narrow streets and alleyways with geraniums in pots adorning old walls and monks strolling around, best known as the birthplace of St Francis and St Clare. It is a place where people come to see the history and also for pilgrimage, there was a man dressed in hessian on his knees in the large piazza speaking to some monks. The Basilica of St Francis is a large structure dedicated to the life of St Francis, it has 28 part fresco around the walls depicting his life, art critics and pilgrims both come to see them. This was a lovely town to wander around it and we did just that, walking up alleyways and climbing steps to look over the town.

The day was miserable as we left Perugia and there was a lot of traffic as we negotiated our way out of the city, but by lunch time the sun was out and we rode along on small country road lined with trees. Some bars serve tea as well as coffee so now having a break also means having a cuppa, such a change from trying to find cold drinks in the hot weather. Lago Trasimeno Italy’s fourth largest lake is in this district and we found the only camping ground still open, the best one we have stayed in Italy. The lake is calm with birds and so peaceful, we stayed a couple of days, the mornings were foggy but by the afternoon the sun was out and we relaxed on deck chairs around the lake. Everyone else is in mobile homes, very popular throughout Europe. We left Lago Trasimen behind and rode up into the hills and mist, lots of olive trees and grape vines, some grapes being harvested. Numerous small villages, we would just leave one and there would be another. As it got later in the day we enquired about camp sites and every time we were told “a bit further on” as darkness started to set in we found the sign to the campsite but were stopped by the owners of the campsite who told us it closed yesterday. They must have felt sorry for us because they offered to open up for us and said they would go ahead and we were to follow – up a 3 kilometre steep climb. When we got there they decided it would be easier for them to give us a cabin rather than open up the toilet and shower block, gratius, they would not take payment. We were most grateful, we have found people to be very ice everywhere we go.