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Austria to Italy

Started by Robert Norton · · Last activity · 6 posts · 651 views

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rec.bicycles.rides
Published
11 October 2007
Last activity
13 October 2007
Original author
Robert Norton
Posts
6
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  1. Posted an enquiry on 15/8 about the above and got useful replies from
    Garry, Sergio and Jobst.
    Brief report:
    (Crew of two- me 70 , him a crotchety 72!)
    1 Zell am See to Heiligenblut via Hochtor. lovely weather and landscape- too
    many motorbikes. Found the climb hard - inmy case due to not enough
    preparation. had gears down to 20" though
    2 Heiligenblut to Thal/ Aue near Lienz. Surprised there were such excellent
    radwegs. Some rain.
    3 Thal to Brunico. Along the Drau river. More rain, heavy at times,
    necessitating an indoor lunch with hot soup. more good cycle paths.
    4 Brunico to Passo Pordoi via Passo Campolongo.
    A hard day and weather not good. Too hard for me - on the afternoon haul up
    to Pordoi I suddenly get very breathless and tired and find that my heart-
    beat has become chaotic. Mick too far ahead to notice. Hitched a lift to
    the top and booked into hotel there. Not sure how serious the problem was,
    asked the manager to summon help and got moved by ambulance to hospital in
    Cavalese. Spent night there. Superb care in spite of language problems.
    Discharged 3.00 pm the following day - heart had reverted to a steady 70.
    Thank goodness I brought my E111
    5 Stayed in Cavalese to recuperate and retrieve my bike from Pordoi . Even
    had a short walk on hill trails to admire the Sella towers
    6 Cavalese to Trento (lovely city). Apprehensive at first but I felt better
    as the day went on. Great weather.
    7 Trento/ Malcesine on Lake Garda. Weather great- good cycle paths- super
    day.
    8 Malcesine/ Volta Mantovana. Had decided to follow the Po river east in
    spite of Sergio's advice not to waste time there but to head for Tuscany.
    (See what you mean, Sergio. It's not an exciting landscape but we found it
    had a certain quiet charm.)
    9 V.M. to Bergantine (where?, says you !) Found it hard to find a place to
    stay.
    10/ 11 Bergantine. to Ferrara; another fine city where we spent two days
    and got in a good chamber music recital and a spettacolo in the square.
    12 Ferrara to Forli for the flight home . Went east to a big coastal lagoon
    before turning south to Forli.
    Conclusion:- 800K in ten days on the road. A lovely tour in spite of my
    misadventure. Trouble with our lack of Italian language- not much English
    there (probably a GOOD THING). Food -as Garry said- very repetitive .
    Strange lack of vegetables.
    Would like to return to Pordoi some day and get my revenge on that hill!
    Rob

  2. On Oct 11, 2:40 pm, "Robert Norton" <[email hidden]> wrote:
    Food -as Garry said- very
    repetitive .

    Quoted message said:

    Strange lack of vegetables.

    Potatoes, cabbage, canederli, forelle, carrots, pork, deer, sfilacci
    di cavallo, beef, cinghiale, polenta, asiago, luganeghe, beef,
    lattuce, eel, sogliole, merluzzo, tagliatelle, lasagne ... .,

    I think you got to come back to unravel what you missed.
    Sergio
    Pisa

  3. Sorry, Sergio, dont mean to upset you but we saw no potatoes, no carrots no
    cabbage (the Irish know potatoes and Cabbage when they see them!). Pasta,
    pasta, basta!
    rob
    "sergio" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:

    On Oct 11, 2:40 pm, "Robert Norton" <[email hidden]> wrote:
    Food -as Garry said- very
    repetitive .

    Quoted message said:

    Strange lack of vegetables.

    Potatoes, cabbage, canederli, forelle, carrots, pork, deer, sfilacci
    di cavallo, beef, cinghiale, polenta, asiago, luganeghe, beef,
    lattuce, eel, sogliole, merluzzo, tagliatelle, lasagne ... .,

    I think you got to come back to unravel what you missed.
    Sergio
    Pisa

  4. Robert Norton said:

    Sorry, Sergio, dont mean to upset you but we saw no potatoes, no carrots no
    cabbage (the Irish know potatoes and Cabbage when they see them!).

    Gee! I wasn't aware you are a neighbour of Garry's.
    So, do bring some irish stout and I'll let you try not just potatoes
    and carrots, but eggplants, peppers, artichokes, scarola, spinach,
    beets onions, porri, and so on and so forth.
    Don't you still have to hit Tuscany?

    However, I do see your point.
    Unfortunately, traditional restaurants tend to disappear and become
    quite standard over here. Not so much in the south of the country,
    though.

    Sergio
    Pisa

  5. "sergio" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:
    Robert Norton said:

    Sorry, Sergio, dont mean to upset you but we saw no potatoes, no carrots
    no
    cabbage (the Irish know potatoes and Cabbage when they see them!).

    Gee! I wasn't aware you are a neighbour of Garry's.
    So, do bring some irish stout and I'll let you try not just potatoes
    and carrots, but eggplants, peppers, artichokes, scarola, spinach,
    beets onions, porri, and so on and so forth.
    Don't you still have to hit Tuscany?

    However, I do see your point.
    Unfortunately, traditional restaurants tend to disappear and become
    quite standard over here. Not so much in the south of the country,
    though.


    I agree Italian food is among the best in the world but maybe one has to eat
    in more expensive places than we used! Ciao, Roberto

    Quoted message said:


    Sergio
    Pisa

  6. Rob wrote

    Quoted message said:

    maybe one has to eat in more expensive places than we used

    Sharon and I just buy our food in grocery stores or meat shops, almost never
    restaurants. As long as they're in range of some significant population
    center in northern Italy, we usually find a large range of interesting food
    choices -- way more than we could ever eat without gaining weight (even
    after bicycling most of the day). I don't think the big issue is price,
    rather it's choosing to shop in a location with roads and parking convenient
    for middle-class northern Italians with cars. They want a big variety of
    good food without paying a lot -- so do I. I think it's mostly a matter of
    guessing where they shop, and making the effort to get there.
    .. (Usually not so difficult for us, since we normally have a car after we're
    done riding for the day -- just like home in the USA)

    Ken

    P.S. The nice thing about having once spent a week riding in Tuscany is that
    Sharon and I are now free to enjoy fun bicycling wherever we find it in
    Italy, unhindered by the slightest worry that it might have been better in
    Tuscany (except for the island of Elba).

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