Thursday September 13 -- Part 2

I had to stop writing last night and post half a day's worth of a blog because of a fabulous dinner that ran until 10:30 pm. More on that later.

Continuing on, we arrived at "the farm," the headquarters of ExperiencePlus. There we met Rick and Paola, the founders of the company, now owned and managed by their daughters Monica (based in Italy) and Maria Elena (based in Fort Collins, CO). It was also a pleasure to run into Javier, a guide from my first ExPlus trip, in Patagonia, who now works full time at the farm, and Christina, one of the guides from my Croatia trip. We had a great picnic, prepared by the staff at the farm (enough to justify skipping dinner, which, you will seem, we did not do). Then we had a tour through the facilities (all in a converted pig barn), where they house their offices, kitchen, dorms for guides passing through, and the bikes. All told, they have 350 bikes and a staff of three mechanics to care for them.

We returned to the kitchen to watch Paola's aunt make pasta from scratch, with no more tools than her hands, a rolling pin, and a knife. She made cappelletti,  ravioli, and tagliatelle. A few of our number tried their hand at filling and folding cappeletti.

The restaurant in our hotel was highly recommended, and is headed by a chef who is highly regarded in Italy -- we saw a magazine with a feature article on him. Six of us dined at one table (several others from our group also dined in this restaurant). Of the six, four of us ordered the chef's surprise tasting menu. They would not even tell us the number of courses to expect -- everything was a surprise. We started at 7:30 pm, and the food just kept coming. The chef himself brought out each course and explained it. All the dishes were fantastic -- my favorites were the "spring rolls" with tempura style shrimp, the risotto with shrimp, calimari and lime, and finally, the skewered pork with blackberries. All together we had nine courses. There might have been more had we not begged the chef to stop because we were so full and we had to get up in the morning and cycle. 

It is now Friday morning, and we are set to cycle over the Apennines. We will probably climb to about 300 feet. Should it prove to be more than we wish to undertake, their are to opportunities to peel off and take the train. I make no promises or predictions at this point.

Thursday, September 13 -- Part 1

Best day so far, in many respects. Only 37 miles, and still flat. We hit the hills of the Apennine range tomorrow.

We are in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, known as the fruit basket of Italy. Throughout much of yesterday and all of today, we passed many fruit orchards -- apples, pears, peaches and plums. We didn't see kiwi (as far as I could tell), although Italy is the worlds's largest producer of kiwi.

But I get ahead of myself. About fifteen miles into the ride we stopped a highly recommended gelato stop. Although I don't normally eat ice cream at 10 am, this was not to be missed.

We continued on toward "the Farm," (more on that soon) and passed people harvesting peaches and pears. What a difference between the careful and deliberate process of these farmers, and the frenzied picking of tomatoes, grapes, corn, and beans that we see in California. The pear farmer came over and gave pears to two of us.

Harvesting peaches

Harvesting Pears

Just finished a three hour, nine course, tasting menu dinner (absolutely fantastic). We start climbing tomorrow, so I am too tired to keep writing tonight, even though the best of the day is yet to come. Will finish this day's journal when I get the chance.

Wednesday September 12

Only 33 miles of cycling today, still flat, but lots of interesting things to do and see. We started out the day with a bus ride to Comacchio, another town with canals like Venice, and still a seaport. Our bus was about 45 minutes late, so we lost some of the time that we would have had to explore Comacchio. Our first stop, right off the bus, was the fishmarket.

Next, we stopped at a museum which featured artifacts from a ship that sunk sometime between 19 and 12 BC. (They can pinpoint the date because of the markings on the lead ingots which were the ship's cargo.) Because it was buried under mud in an oxygen free environment until it was discovered in 1980. The wooden hull is not displayed (it has to be maintained in an oxygen free environment) but many of the artifacts are, including remarkably well preserved leather sandals.

Now, at 11:45 it was time to get on our bikes, and it was getting pretty hot. We had to ride about 14 miles to a place where we had reserved a "picnic" at a small countryside restaurant. It was actually a multicourse meal, with two pastas to start, and a buffet with many vegetables, some small fried shrimp (eat the whole thing --head and tail), and the local specialty, marinated eel. The last was not overly popular. 

Back on the bikes for another 20 miles or so to our hotel for the evening in Ravenna. Right after the restaurant, we passed through a wildlife preserve where large numbers of flamingo were feeding. They were far away, so the picture was taken at the maximum zoom of my camera's range.

After showering and resting a bit, we met for a walk through Ravenna, passing Dante's tomb and the mosaics of San Vitale,  and Sant'Appolinare Nuova. Neither words nor my pictures can do justice to these fabulous mosaics which are the last/best preserved from the Byzantine era. They date back to the fifth and sixth century. They are immense, covering the walls and ceilings of the churches. From the floor you can't even tell that they are composed of millions of small precious stones. 

San Vitale

Mosaic Detail

After that it was back to the real world for a light supper of white pizza with sausage

Tuesday September 11

Last night's dinner at the Agroturismo was excellent. We had a short presentation by Giuseppe, the proprietor, regarding the wines produced in small batches on the estate, and tasted several of them. This was followed by a buffet of appetizers all made with organic produce from the state, including nettles (!), tomatoes, egg plant, and sage leaves. The sage leaves were dredged in butter, then deep fried, emerging like tempura. They were particularly good. Dinner consisted of a variety of organic vegetables from the farm, coupled with an egg plant parmigiana and some guinea fowl (the birds purchased from a nearby farm,) I am not normally a fan of eggplant, but this was delicious. Do you think it cold be the cheese?

Today we had an early breakfast and were on the bikes by 8:15, At about the halfway point, we stopped for an hour long guided tour of Villa Badoer, a masterpiece of architecture and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was designed in 1554 by Andrea Palladio, considered one of the most influential architects in Western history.

Particularly fascinating were the frescoes on the interior and exterior walls. At some point, the residents covered the with plaster and repeatedly hammered the plaster to make it adhere to the walls. Around 1960, the existence of the frescoes was discovered and the plaster removed. The frescoes are no visible, hammer dents and all.

After our tour we looked for lunch. The first cafe that we tried served only drinks, no food. After walking around, we found a small bakery with a proprietress who spoke excellent English. She had some prebaked flat breads and would make sandwiches upon request. I settled upon a cheese and onion flatbread which was quite tasty and filling.

We then embarked upon the remaining 22 miles or so of the day's cycling. By now it was quite hot, and the going was a little tougher than in the morning, even though it was still remarkably flat as we rode along the Po river toward our destination of Ferrara. The scenery was more interesting than yesterday, and the approach to Ferrara was particularly noteworthy because of the remarkably well preserved wall that surrounded the ancient city (Ferrara is another UNESCO World Heritage Site.)

After some free time to walk around the city we gathered for aperitifs and our daily briefing at a bar in the shadow of the Este castle which still dominates the center of the city.

Dinner was on our own tonight, and I joined Brad and Shelagh for an al fresco dinner at a restaurant that is only a stone's throw from our hotel. I had tagliatelle with smoked swordfish with a side salad. It was excellent, and just the right amount of food.

Looking forward to another interesting day tomorrow.

Monday September 10

Today we made our way to the mainland via island roads and two ferries. One was a regularly scheduled public ferry with motor vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians. The other was a chartered boat that took our entire group of 18 riders along with our bicycle to the small community of Chioggia, also known as "Little Venice."  (It is actually part of the metropolitan City of Venice.)  We had time to explore and eat while the guides set out ahead of us to mark the route to our destination for the evening. Our total ride was about 45 miles.

Bikes stacked up on the ferry 

From Chioggia, we rode along the Po River Delta through very flat farm country. It was an easy ride, very flat, but also quite warm. There was not much to remark about in the way of scenery or landmarks. The farms were quite small and there was not much visible activity on any of them.

Our destination for the evening is an agroturismo (essentially a small farm which has been converted to a setting where guest can experience the farm experience) which is quite nice. They have a pool that I did not take advantage of, and tonight's dinner should feature some of the produce from the farm. We will also have a tour of the vineyard before eating. My room has a downstairs bath and living area and a loft where my bed is located. Lets hope I remember the stairs if I get up in the middle of the night. 

This is definitely the largest group of riders that I have ridden with in my nine trips with Experience Plus. We have several Canadian riders and a good mix of experience levels.

Sunday September 9

Today is the official start of our cycling tour. In the morning, before the first group meeting, I took the vaporetto over to Venice and toured the Peggy Guggenheim collection (Modern Art). The works included those by artiest such as Dali, Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Mondrian, Miró, Klee, Ernst, and others. I arrived exactly at opening time, so there was no wait. I enjoyed the tour which took me about an hour. I particularll like the painting "At the Cyclo-Race Track" by Jean Metzinger. It ties in closely with the theme of this trip.

 After the Museum visit, I did a little sightseeing and photographing on the vaporetto along the great canal, turning around when i felt that I had better get back to the Lido for our 2pm fitting. I was both hungry and tired, so stopped for a quick lunch of zuppa di pesce (seafood soup) which was outstanding, and then went back to the hotel for a 30 minute nap which rejuvenated me nicely. I figure that I am on Venice time now.

Our first meeting included the standard safety briefing and then we went our to get our bikes fitted. Lisa (one of my tour guides from Cuba) asked if I would be willing to "test" a bike with a new 1x11 configuration (a single chain ring in the front and 11 cogs in the rear). This is becoming an industry standard instead of the formerly common setups with two or even three chainrings in front. I said sure. Today's short flat ride did not provide much of a test, but I enjoyed the bike and felt good on it. It was a short ride of about ten miles, down the lagoon side of the Lido and back on the sea side with the famous beaches of the Lido.

Tomorrow is our first real ride, retracing our way down the Lido and reaching the mainland by means of two ferries. Total distance should be 45 miles.

We had a group dinner tonight at La Favorita. Two pastas served side by side, sea bass with artichokes, a variety of salads, vegetables and potatoes, lots of fresh mussels, and tiramisu. No wonder that I gain weight on these cycling trips. This is a Michelin recommended restaurant, and most of us thought that the meal was very good. Some of our group had eaten there a few days ago and were quite disappointed, particularly with the service. 

September 7 and 8, 2018 -- To Vence and the Opera

My schedule had me arriving in Venice at 11 am, and there was a performance of La Traviata at 3:30 pm. Although I knew it would be tight, I purchased a ticket and meticulously studied the logistics of getting from the airport to the hotel and then to the opera, or alternatively from the airport directly to the opera if the timing was really tight. Having made these plans, I decided that I would go completely carry on for this two week cycling trip to speed my way through the airport.

The first glitch was an unexpected construction delay on the way to the airport. Fortunately, it was only thirty minutes, and I made my initial connection to Chicago. In Chicago, however, the next glitch was not so minor. The connecting flight to Venice was delayed two hours. Getting to the opera was going to be tighter than expected.

Fortunately we made up a little time in the air, and arrived in Venice only ninety minutes late. With my carry on luggage getting through customs and immigration was a breeze. I quickly got some money from an ATM and tried to buy a ticket for the ferry that would get me to Venice. The machine would not take my credit card, but it take cash -- luckily I had just got some. The ferry would have taken an hour and a half to get to the spot from which I planned the short walk to Teatro La Fenice, the opera house. But I noticed some earlier stops that involved slightly longer walks but significantly less time on the ferry. So, using Google Maps I selected a ferry stop that involved a 19 minute walk but saved an hour on the ferry.

Google Maps did a great job of guiding me until I was about seven minutes (it said) away from the theater. After that it abandoned me, and I was left asking for directions every two or three minutes. I ended up walking for an hour, with that heavy carry on luggage until I got to the theater at 2:30. The doors didn't even open until three, so I sat down at a cafe (no seats in the shade left) and had a bottle of sparkling water and a large plate of gelato.

Then, into the theater, check luggage and settle down for the performance. One reason that I wanted so much for this to work out is that this the theater where La Traviata was first performed. It is also one of my favorites, and one that I had seen in Havana, Cuba (with Kathleen in 2003), in Rome (with Thomas), and a few times in the US.  It was worth the effort -- the performance was outstanding, the opera house magnificent and my seat was perfect -- center aisle in the fifth row. An espresso during each intermission kept me awake.

Teatro La Fenice

 The walk to the Vaporetto (water taxi) to the Lido where my hotel is located was relatively easy, as was the short walk from the ferry dock to the hotel. Check in was easy, and I then walked to a nearby street crowded with eateries, picked one at random, had a pizza and beer, and headed for bed after a long but satisfying day.

This afternoon we will meet for bike fitting and a short test ride. Until then, I shall explore at a more leisurely pace without luggage!