Riding the flatlands of the Po River Delta

We were fortunate to catch one of the last connecting regional trains to Ravenna (TrenItalia permits travelers to bring bicycles onto regional and intercity trains by rolling them into a designated space in the first or last car of the train, you never know which so each time we just guess. If we guess wrong the conductor will shake his head and point to the opposite end of the train. I almost prefer the mad rush of pedaling down the length of the platform to get into the right car before the train departs). We arrived just after sunset, and set out for the youth hostel. Arriving late meant that most businesses were closed down, thus ordering take out pizza was our only option for dinner.

We spent the morning following a brisk itinerary taking in the amazing mosaics that the town is known for. We were struck by the number of people, young and old, riding bikes. We were particularly impressed by the older Italian ladies and gentlemen navigating the cobblestone streets with ease. We departed for Ferarra near mid-day, and proceeded to push a high tempo to cover ground. Highlights included 2 short ferry crossings, the Comàchio Lagoon with its narrow dyke-top nearly vacant roadway, flamingos, and the final 20km along the Po di Volano River. Otherwise the majority of the day was flat, pretty, but quite dull. We arrived to a campground just outside of the ancient walls of Ferarra late in the afternoon; we set up our tent on the gravel car park because the ground was saturated from recent rains. Our longest day to date at 125km.

Our intent was to be able to have more time in both Ravenna and Ferarra, but due to our late departure from Rome we were now short on time. We spent an hour and a half taking in the cyclo-fied town of Ferarra, and then rolled out to follow the Destro Po River cycle-path. Again it was pretty, and peaceful with only a handful of cars over the first 55km. We were again struck by how tolling flat riding can be - it sounds funny, but when you ride flat terrain you must always pedal to make progress, and since we had lots of distance to cover we pushed ourselves a bit. With hills you grind up, to be rewarded by coasting down the other side, in general preferable to both of us. The final 10km into Chioggia returned us to congested roadways, round-a-bouts, and many large trucks. We made it to Camping Adriatico at Sotto Marina, a built-up resort beach town replete with amusement park rides, hotels, and kitschy beach resorts. We learned that it was Italian Freedom day, and the campground was almost at capacity. We were pretty tired after covering 235km over the past 2-days, so we passed out and barely noticed the campers pouring in and setting up around our tent as we slept.

Riding into Chioggia the next morning to catch the ferry was an impressive experience as there were thousands of people, a good number on scooters and bikes all going to the market near the ferry dock. Hundreds of folks were also heading out on the same ferry as us to enjoy a day of site-seeing or bicycle riding. It turned out to be the perfect way to approach Venice from the barrier islands that enclose the larger Venetian Lagoon. After a short 30km of pedaling the final of 3 short ferry rides deposited us on the outskirts of Venice, from there we rode to Piazzele Roma and quickly learned why no one rides bikes in Venice. Carrying our loaded bikes over the bridge spanning the grand canal along with thousands of tourists was memorable, but no huge deal as we are getting pretty adept at getting our bikes trough all manner of obstacles. We had arrived to Venice at last!

Tourists in Rome (Lots of them!)

We arrived to Rome at 8am to be met by our gracious host Margherita at the train station. Arriving to the buzz of Rome was both exciting, and overwhelming. Margherita gave us her keys, and directions to her nearby apartment and then hustled off to work. We made our way through 4-blocks of humanity flying by on all manner of mechanical contraptions and luxuriated in the tranquility of a nice, peaceful apartment to shower, do laundry, and re-charge for a day of site seeing. We were super appreciative of Margherita's hospitality!

We decided to visit Vatican City and see its sites and artistic wonders. As it turned out we had a very nice day, saw probably 10% of the Vatican Museums displays and were equally amazed by the sheer number of tourists and how effectively we were all ushered through the sites. The Sistine Chapel was of course incredible, as we're many of the other frescoes rooms and apartments along the route to the chapel. St. Peter's Basilica was also amazing, and along with its massive square dwarfed the crowds assembled there. Later we enjoyed a nice dinner with our host and her friend Paolo, both of whom work for the U.N.s Food and Agriculture Organization whose main offices are based in Rome.

On our second day we explored the Ancient City and saw the sites in and around the Coliseum, Forum, and Capitoline Hill. Again the sense of history was impressive, realizing that crowds, commerce, and even tourism has been going on in these very places for millennia. Later we were able to connect with friends Cliff and Sandy Deveny who were in town for a conference that cliff was attending. We met at the Trevi Fountain, and then enjoyed a dinner together -super nice to see folks from home and to visit and catch up.

Day three had us heading out of town to Ostia Antica, the former Roman port city at the once mouth of the Tiber river (time and siltation has moved the mouth further westward). The ruins were really interesting, some amazingly well preserved, vast, and fascinating to explore. It was also open and green, and peaceful. Later that afternoon we walked from the Spanish Steps, by the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Campo di Fiori, and Trastevere neighborhood. We had a great time immersing ourselves into Rome for a few days, and although there is plenty more we could have packed in, we felt good about what we were able to see and explore and look forward to getting back into the countryside as we train to Ravenna and then ride northwards along the Adriatic coast on our way to Venice.

A final thought from Susan on Rome:

One last stop in Rome. As we rode through the city with the cars, scooters, strollers, bikes, (one even with a parrot on the handlebars), I thought to myself riding a bike in the city is a lot like trying to keep your passport and wallet safe from pickpocketers. It's all good until it is not...And no matter how much you really really try to do things right "stuff still happens". So although we had one more stop at the US embassy to replace my passport and a later than planned departure from Rome I realized I was lucky that only my passport had been stolen, and we actually enjoyed (and made it through unscathed) jockeying with all those scooters and cars.

Full Circle on Sardinia (almost)

Had a restful day off in Tortoli by the beautiful sea! The ride from Tortoli to Orosei was awesome, up, up, and over Paso Genna Silana. The climb stretched out over 40km, and towards the top our legs were definitely feeling it. Yet the charming villages, awesome vistas of granite gorges (Europes deepest gorge: Goru Goropu was the highlight), and beautiful pine and conifer forests. The descent was equally awesome as we covered the final 50km in no time at all. Just before reaching Orosei near the 100km mark we rode through a HUGE marble quarry.

The next day we were on a mission to get back to where we started, Olbia and the ferry terminal. Knowing that the ferry departed at 10:30 pm we had all day to ride the final 100 km of rolling terrain along the eastern coast that is known for its white sandy beaches. We did stop and enjoy a few along the way and were surely tempted to swim and lounge but kept our pace on the road.

The ferry experience was much as it was upon arrival, quite unique. We were inundated with loud excited high school kid's partying late into the night. Arriving at 6 am, off the ferry, ride to the train, get to Rome and meet our wonderful "warm showers" host Margharita, that waited for us so we could get into her home before she went off to work. So wonderful! And it made our sleep deprived day at he Vatican much more enjoyable, leaving our bikes and gear at her home.
From Sardinia to Rome...more on that next.