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!

Cycling Cuba 2018 -- Part 9

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Thursday February 15, 2018 – Viñales to Cayo Vista

We started cycling early and reach Cayo Lavisa in time for a great lunch. They served enough to feed our entire group at least four times over. We had lobster (delicious), two kinds of fish, rice and beans, and innumerable salads. Unfortunately, Lisa and Jennifer were sick all day and were unable to enjoy the day’s activities.

En route to the lunch stop, I passed a small fruit stand and stopped to take a photo. The young woman proprietress came out and gave me a guava, which I promptly ate. Delicious. We chatted for a while, giving me another chance to practice my Spanish. When I asked if all the fruits were locally grown, she took me on a brief tour of her “farm” which looked more like an overgrown patch of brush. She showed me where several of the various fruits were growing, including some pineapples.

After lunch we took the ferry to the island where we spent the afternoon on the beach. The 2pm ferry left promptly at 2:32 pm. The beach was fantastic, with very fine white sand, and the water was particularly inviting. The return ferry at 5pm was very crowded. We boarded the bus again for a long shuttle ride back to the hotel in Soroa where we had stayed the previous Sunday.

Friday February 16, 2018 – Soroa to Cabaña, then shuttle to Havana

Today is the last day of cycling. We start out with the opportunity to cycle up the back side of “the wall,” the challenging ride earlier in the week. All but two of us decided to pass up this opportunity and instead ride the shuttle to the top and start our ride from there. I vacillated but ended up taking the shuttle. Mike and David did the climb, and David said that it was actually easier than the front side.

We have a new word to describe the balance of today’s ride – “downulating.” This made up word describes the rolling hills that we traverse on our long descent. It was lots of fun, and I stopped to photograph a group of fishermen pulling a net full of fish from a rather ugly looking pond – not sure that I would want to eat those fish.

We ended the cycling in the small town of Cabaña and had a picnic lunch in the town square. We enjoyed it, except for the presence of an obnoxious beggar that would not take no for an answer.

After lunch, we boarded the bus for the shuttle back to Havana. We stopped in “Fusterlandia” for sightseeing and a group photo. The following description is from our day sheet:

Cuban artist José Fuster’s art is “naïve,” meaning he uses childlike crude shapes and bright colors in his untrained composition. His work has been compared to that of Picasso, a comparison that followed him in successful gallery tours across Europe. After one such tour, Fuster was struck with a desire to recreate something like Gaudi’s public works in Barcelona and Brâncuși’s across Romania in his own homeland. He wanted to put his artistic reality into his real-world surroundings, and he began in his own neighborhood.

In 1975, after moving into a modest wood house in the rundown neighborhood of Jaimanitas outside Havana, Fuster set about decorating his studio in colorful mosaic. Once he was done there, he asked his neighbors if he could decorate their homes and business as well. A few accepted his offer and the tile creations grew. Over the course of a decade, doctors’ offices, bus stops, fountains, benches, gateways, and more were enveloped by Fuster’s whimsical imagination. Today, his artwork coats the neighborhood in a rainbow of strange, enchanting fantasy.

Jaimanitas was an economically depressed area before Fuster arrived, and now it has turned into an artist’s paradise. Tourists are bussed into the neighborhood to admire Fuster’s still-growing kingdom, which has spawned a new generation of artists inspired by the surroundings they came up in.

The Week 2 crew

We reboard the bus which takes us to the Presidente hotel. The air-conditioning in my room is extremely loud, and they will not move me to a different room. The only option is to turn it off and open the window. Fortunately, we are only about two blocks from the harbor, and there is a pleasant cool breeze in the late afternoon and evening.

Most of us return to the restaurant of a week ago (Restaurante Paladar Decameron -- where I had the disappointing shrimp). Tonight, I had octopus with pasta, and it was superb. Although we are in what appears to be a good neighborhood, the restaurant door remains locked and guests have to knock to be admitted. The day ended with a pleasant walk back to the hotel.

Cycling Cuba 2018 -- Finale

Saturday February 17, 2018 – Havana

Although the cycling is over, we had a day full of planned activities. We started with a visit to the Antonio Nuñez Jimenez Museum. Nuñez Jimenez was a revolutionary who fought under Che Guevarra, and an academic who was a prolific writer, an explorer, and a collector of a wide range of artifacts. The museum was fascinating.

Following the museum visit, we went to lunch as a group. We had good bread for a change. Our appetizers included octopus, ceviche, croquettes, eggplant and fried plantains filled with cheese. We had a choice of several grilled entrees – I had the excellent pork chops. Others had sea bass which they said was also delicious.

We were on our own for the afternoon, and then regrouped around five for a reprise of the vintage car ride through Havana (for the benefit of the cyclists who joined us the second week). We took a different route this time, so we saw different parts of the city.  The car that I was in was a yellow 1958 Pontiac that had been featured (so the owner told us) in the Hemingway movie, “Papa.” He played early Beatles music on the car stereo as we cruised the city. 

We then walked through a portion of Havana Vieja to a small restaurant where we had our farewell dinner. Unexpectedly, our waiter was wearing winter gloves and sporting a rather obscene t-shirt.

Our Farewell Dinner

Back to the hotel for a final drink on the veranda where we listened to a small but energetic group of musicians playing as some of the patrons danced. Even our waitress got into the act, dancing to the tables while balancing drinks, and then joining the band with some form of percussion instrument (a gourd?) that I did not recognize.

Sunday February 19, 2018 – Heading Home

I spent the morning with a leisurely breakfast, packing, and a final email check before riding to the airport in a taxi with Nancy and Aylan. Check-in was orderly and quick; security much less so. I exchanged my remaining CUCs for Euros and waited for the plane. I noticed that a flight to New York, scheduled to leave about the same time as our flight to Charlotte, was cancelled. I hope that it did not affect any of our group who were heading to or through New York. Two uneventful flights brought me to San Francisco just aft 11 pm, so it was early Monday when I walked in the front door.

In 10 days of cycling, I pedaled 300 miles, seeing all the variety that central and western Cuba has to offer. The trip was full of surprises, shared with a fantastic group of guides and fellow cyclists, and one to be remembered fondly for a long time.

Postscript

Awaiting me upon my arrival at home was a copy of Liza Gershman’s new book “Cuban Flavor – Exploring the Island’s Unique Places, People, and Cuisine.” I am looking forward to perusing this book given to me by my daughter-in-law, and friend of the author, Carol Morganstern Cunningham.