I've had much time to ponder this subject...
First rule of Italian driving: What's behind me is not important. This is an old joke from "The Gumball Rally". Still funny though.
Further rules seem to be -
What's in front of me isn't all that important either.
Speed limits are ignored unless speed cameras are around.
No passing zones and road markings that would indicate the same (turning lanes) are totally ignored.
Passing is a national sport. Everyone passes everywhere. Motorcycles doubly so. The conventional wisdom of not passing when there's oncoming traffic is ignored. Oncoming traffic is expected to move right to make room. This seems to work pretty well. It does make for brisk progress on curvy mountain roads.
Drivers turning into your lane will cut you off, though usually with enough room left to slow down. Seemingly more so when you're on a bike, because you're expected to pass immediately anyway. This is refreshing, because in more structured countries you're always worried if someone won't see you and cut you off. Here, you know what's going to happen.
I try to adapt my driving to the situation and thus my passing habits have become more, um, liberal. I'm going to have to watch that when I'm back in Germany. It's still quite clear though that I'm not a native and I still get passed by cars in town sometimes because I don't go fast enough.
Saturday, July 5, 2014
Arrivederci y Riva - July 2-5
I've been meaning to write this for a couple of days now, but have been too busy (or tired).
I'm once again in a no WIFI zone, so I'll have to deliver pics later.
On Wed, on the way back from our lunch in Modena, we stopped by Mandova. Beautiful, old architecture, grand piazzas with cafes, salumerias, pasticherias, finally the Italy we'd been looking for and craving. We spent a couple of hours wandering around, loading up on some provisions and having a drink outside, all without a tourist onslought.
Thursday it was time to go for me. Tom & Pauline were staying another day, but I lit out in search of Italy. Lago di Garda did give me a good send off by way of providing a high road along the eastern shore, over Monte Baldo, which has some nice roads and spectacular views of the lake and valleys. I had decided to go Vicenza, with the intent of taking the train to Venice.
Vicenza is a destination in its own right. It is filled with buildings by Andrea Palladio,
which are Unesco World Heritage (I really should have kept track of how many of those I tripped accross on this trip). The Basilica Palladiana is probably the most famous in the heart of Vicenza. It truly is a pretty amazing building and for this summer the rooftop is open to the public - and equipped with a bar. I cannot imagine a more spectacular place for an Aperol Spritz. I wound up chatting with a couple of Brits for a while and by the time I left to get dinner it was pretty late. At this point I discovered that the locals don't really seem to eat dinner. The bars were still jammed and serving snacks (this was about 9pm now). The only two restaurants on the piazza were filled with tourists. After fruitlessly scouring side streets for another half hour, I gave up and had a slice of pizza. Oh well.
Next day was Venice. I had planned on getting in by lunch time and then getting the last train back because I wanted to see the the city in the evening. Well, see isn't the right word. Experience, maybe. I didn't come to see, I just came to be there. I like the vibe. I really would have liked to stay over night, but couldn't figure out a way to make that work with the bike in tow. So I didn't have any sights on my agenda - those come anyway when wandering around, what was on my agenda though was lunch and cicchetti for dinner. I had a recommendation for lunch, so I made a beeline for it when I arrived at Venezia Santa Lucia, the main train station. Well, that was the theory anyhow. By the time I figured out the Vaporetto (water bus), got a ticket, wound up on the wrong side of the grand canal, found my way to a bridge and over to the restaurant it was 1:30. And it was closed for vacation. Ahhhhh! I was ravenous. Luckily, Lonely Planet had a recommendation right around the corner. Onwards. I had the 3 course menu along with a half liter of Valpolicella. When in Venice... I did have the meat menu, since most seafood menus include shellfish, which doesn't work so well for me. Suitably strengthened (and a bit buzzed) I wandered on. Venice is obviously visited by lots of tourists. By and large though, they tend to cluster around the famous landmarks and a few big streets. If you wander off through the myriads of side streets, you see very few of them. I love that. Once in a while, you trip over a little Enoteca and can stop in for a drink. Cicchetti are the Venetian way to eat dinner, or to have a snack any time. They are Venetian tapas. Some bars have a whole buffet, some just have a couple. They tend to run an Euro or so a piece and you can assemble a meal for very little money. I stopped in at Trattoria Alla Vedova, which is ancient and famous for their polpette (meatballs). Four of those, a plate of grilled vegetables, a quartino of vino rossa di casa and I was in business. While eating, I watched a number of people stop in, grab a polpetto and a quick glass of wine - there's a pitcher of white and one red sitting on the bar - and move on. Love it. I ambled around a bit more, found a local bar for a glass of Prosecco and grabbed the 9:17 train. It was a good day.
Today, I decided to go back to Valdobbiadene. I needed to chill after a bunch of really packed days. I found a fun moutain north of Bassano del Grappa for some good riding and set off. The ride was steeper than expected and there were some serious turns to be ridden. Found a nice trattoria in the hills and had some Bigoli with ragu for lunch. As I'm writing this, I'm sitting outside at Agritourismo Le Mesine, with a glass of Prosecco. It's very peaceful here, though it looks like the place will be packed for dinner. It's said to be even better than Riva de Milan. I'm looking forward to it.
Oh my. It's a wedding party. I guess peace and quiet are over.
I'm once again in a no WIFI zone, so I'll have to deliver pics later.
On Wed, on the way back from our lunch in Modena, we stopped by Mandova. Beautiful, old architecture, grand piazzas with cafes, salumerias, pasticherias, finally the Italy we'd been looking for and craving. We spent a couple of hours wandering around, loading up on some provisions and having a drink outside, all without a tourist onslought.
Thursday it was time to go for me. Tom & Pauline were staying another day, but I lit out in search of Italy. Lago di Garda did give me a good send off by way of providing a high road along the eastern shore, over Monte Baldo, which has some nice roads and spectacular views of the lake and valleys. I had decided to go Vicenza, with the intent of taking the train to Venice.
Vicenza is a destination in its own right. It is filled with buildings by Andrea Palladio,
which are Unesco World Heritage (I really should have kept track of how many of those I tripped accross on this trip). The Basilica Palladiana is probably the most famous in the heart of Vicenza. It truly is a pretty amazing building and for this summer the rooftop is open to the public - and equipped with a bar. I cannot imagine a more spectacular place for an Aperol Spritz. I wound up chatting with a couple of Brits for a while and by the time I left to get dinner it was pretty late. At this point I discovered that the locals don't really seem to eat dinner. The bars were still jammed and serving snacks (this was about 9pm now). The only two restaurants on the piazza were filled with tourists. After fruitlessly scouring side streets for another half hour, I gave up and had a slice of pizza. Oh well.
Next day was Venice. I had planned on getting in by lunch time and then getting the last train back because I wanted to see the the city in the evening. Well, see isn't the right word. Experience, maybe. I didn't come to see, I just came to be there. I like the vibe. I really would have liked to stay over night, but couldn't figure out a way to make that work with the bike in tow. So I didn't have any sights on my agenda - those come anyway when wandering around, what was on my agenda though was lunch and cicchetti for dinner. I had a recommendation for lunch, so I made a beeline for it when I arrived at Venezia Santa Lucia, the main train station. Well, that was the theory anyhow. By the time I figured out the Vaporetto (water bus), got a ticket, wound up on the wrong side of the grand canal, found my way to a bridge and over to the restaurant it was 1:30. And it was closed for vacation. Ahhhhh! I was ravenous. Luckily, Lonely Planet had a recommendation right around the corner. Onwards. I had the 3 course menu along with a half liter of Valpolicella. When in Venice... I did have the meat menu, since most seafood menus include shellfish, which doesn't work so well for me. Suitably strengthened (and a bit buzzed) I wandered on. Venice is obviously visited by lots of tourists. By and large though, they tend to cluster around the famous landmarks and a few big streets. If you wander off through the myriads of side streets, you see very few of them. I love that. Once in a while, you trip over a little Enoteca and can stop in for a drink. Cicchetti are the Venetian way to eat dinner, or to have a snack any time. They are Venetian tapas. Some bars have a whole buffet, some just have a couple. They tend to run an Euro or so a piece and you can assemble a meal for very little money. I stopped in at Trattoria Alla Vedova, which is ancient and famous for their polpette (meatballs). Four of those, a plate of grilled vegetables, a quartino of vino rossa di casa and I was in business. While eating, I watched a number of people stop in, grab a polpetto and a quick glass of wine - there's a pitcher of white and one red sitting on the bar - and move on. Love it. I ambled around a bit more, found a local bar for a glass of Prosecco and grabbed the 9:17 train. It was a good day.
Today, I decided to go back to Valdobbiadene. I needed to chill after a bunch of really packed days. I found a fun moutain north of Bassano del Grappa for some good riding and set off. The ride was steeper than expected and there were some serious turns to be ridden. Found a nice trattoria in the hills and had some Bigoli with ragu for lunch. As I'm writing this, I'm sitting outside at Agritourismo Le Mesine, with a glass of Prosecco. It's very peaceful here, though it looks like the place will be packed for dinner. It's said to be even better than Riva de Milan. I'm looking forward to it.
Oh my. It's a wedding party. I guess peace and quiet are over.
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Lunch - July 2
Wait, didn't we just go through that? Well yes, there's another lunch, birthday lunch, writ large. Tom and Pauline treated me to an amazing meal, commemorating my half century. Off we went to to Modena which is not all that picturesque, but in the end that's not why we went. There's a little place called Osteria Francesca. It managed to land itself on the number three spot of the world's best restaurants list, sports three Michelin stars and is according to some, the best restaurant in Italy. While I would love to do a thorough comparison, I'm not inclined to disagree at this point.
We walzed in off the street and Tom did his best to convince them that we needed to have lunch today and that we did in fact know what we were in for. While waiting to see if there was a table available - or perhaps while they figured out if we measured up, a young couple showed up, looking a bit disheveled, questioning whether their email reservation had been received and generally being out of sorts. The maitre d' took one look at them, and said without breaking stride "we're full" and kept walking. (no soup for you!). One of the waiters helpfully pointed out an alternative sister restaurant. We proceeded to sit next to an empty table for the duration of our lunch...
I must interject and point out that, as I'm writing this, were consuming some lovely agnolotti procured in Mantova along with some Alto Adige red. All is right with the world.
Due to Tom's interest, the head waiter prepared a wine matching for our courses, which was very nice indeed. Pauline, being vegetarian and our driver, received some special treatment, having a out-of-this-world herbal cocktail prepared with fresh, organic herbs grown by the sea, and getting a special amuse bouche.
The meal was fantastic. No question about it. We had mixed salume, including culatello and a totally awesome coppa ham.
The fish course was eel for myself and red mullet for Tom, while Pauline had a cauliflower terrine.
The main courses were squid ink risotto with caviar for Pauline, tagliatell with ragu Bolognese (hand chopped and cooked sous vide) for Tom and veal risotto with sweetbreads for myself.
Desert was called "Come to Italy with me". It was an improbable composition of elements from all over Italy. Sweet mozzarella foam with shaved ricotta, bergamot, olives, pistachios, tomatoes, mint... Just outrageous.
This was served after an intermezzo of almond granita with capers and bergamot. Mindblowing.
Naturally, petit four were served, including nougat with peanut chips (think way upscale peanut butter cups) and a liquid truffle, of which I shall dream...
Turning 50 doesn't suck entirely :)
Rain in Riva - June 29 - July 1
It's an almost daily occurrence, but that's just the icing on the cake. The problem with this place is Germans. Oh my god, they're everywhere. This town is ridiculously, get-me-out-of-here touristy. I hate it. To be fair, the location, nestled between the mountains at the top of the lake is pretty stunning, and it has great mountain biking and wind surfing apparently, but holy crap have the Germans ever taken this town over. There are probably a few other nationalities here as well, but it's tough to spot them. Every waiter speaks German, menus are in German, football is shown on the German TV channels, there's even a German sausage stand or two. While convenient, it's seriously annoying.
What's even more annoying is that the restaurants suck. It's nigh impossible to find good, basic Italian food. We jumped through all sorts of hoops and still mostly failed. Last night, we finally struck gold and had a happy experience. Venetian, not Trentino, but beggars can't be choosers. As an extra bonus, the waitress/owner barely spoke any English or German. Excellent!
That's not to say that we're not having fun. Tom and I are doing a lot of drinking (as usual), while Pauline does a lot of work (as usual) and goes to seminars, which is why we're here in the first place. We've also done some hiking and checking out surrounding towns, and Tom's been riding some passes on bicycle, while I took a ride down the lake and up through the cliffs on the motorbike yesterday.
One of the hiking highlights(?) was a climb up the mountain next to Riva to first the castello at 210m altitude and then the Santa Barbara chapel at 625m. Riva is at 65m above sea level. The path up is very rocky, rough and steep. Somewhere around 500m or so up, I had a moment of clarity, realizing that every further step up I took over the wet rocks (did I mention it was raining again?), I would have to somehow come back down. It was enough and I turned around. The two mountain goats, of course, carried on to the top.
The views were pretty nice though, as one might imagine.
Tom and I explored Lago di Tenno, supposedly the clearest lake in Italy, but the torrential downpour the night before laid waste to that claim. Still, pretty nice.
Yesterday's ride was very neat. The west side of the lake is a mountain, so the shore road goes along a series of ledges and tunnels carved out of the rock. Truly astonishing. The road up the mountain takes you through a series of unlit tunnels, one of them 1km long and along very narrow ledges and blind turns, all carved out and most with overhangs. The two way road is basically one car width. Bike and car fit, but with two cars one would have to back up. The protocol is to honk around the blind turns and go very slowly. The payoff is the Hotel Paradiso in Pieve, which has a terrace cantilevered out into space, 300m over the lake. Cool!
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Riva del Garda - June 27,28
It's pouring. I really thought that I'd leave the rain behind when I went south. Ah well, it's an excuse for having a beer at 11:30, but surely it's 5 o'clock somewhere ...
So yesterday, I started out by visiting Ötzi. Who or what is Ötzi you might ask. Well, he's a 5000 year old iceman that was found in the Alps by the Ötztal, 20 years ago. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ötzi It's pretty fascinating, in that he's extremely well preserved due to the climatic conditions in the area. I first heard about him on radiolab a few months ago, so I decided I should go check him out if I made it to Bolzano. It's pretty cool. http://www.radiolab.org/story/ice-cold-case/
By the time I made it back to the hotel I was drenched. Not because it rained, but because suddenly the humidity was ridiculously high. Think Louisiana in July. The forecast hadn't improved any, so I figured I'd head for Trento and see how it turned out. The precipitation percentages weren't over the top, but too high to risk the high passes. I hopped on the secondary road to Trento, fired up Coldplay on the iPhone (connected with my bluetooth helmet headset - I do love technology) and found my zen. I had picked out a loop through the hinterlands to the east of Trento. Nothing high, just nice roads through the wine country and some funky towns, so if it did start to rain it was no big deal. As it turned out the weather held, so I got a nice ride through some pretty landscape.
Trento is a "Sliding Doors" (movie) place for me. 25 years ago my advisor asked me if I wanted to got to Trento to come to work with him. I said yes, but then in the end the money did not come through. My life would have been very different. Obviously there are always junctions for all of us that dictate our paths, but this one does pop into my head every so often - obviously driving through it is a good reminder.
The weather was nice enough in Trento, so I decided to grab a quick run over Monte Bondone (1650m) that was conveniently located along one possible route to Riva. Really great run up the mountain. Wide road and good visibility through the switchbacks so it was possible to use the entire road. Also, not much traffic. Of course around 1500 m, it started to rain. Oops. Luckily it didn't amount to much and the road surface stayed dry. Then, as I crested the top, I drove into the clouds. Great, switchbacks in the fog. Once again I got lucky (probably undeservedly by now) and a few turns later things cleared up again. Very open and fast descent. Dropped 1000m in maybe 10 min. Fun run!
Arrived in Riva to find Tom & Pauline waiting by the side of the road for the apt owner. Timing is everything. We settled in, wandered around the town a bit and Tom and I went and watched some football in a local bar, while Pauline worked. I'll be here for a few days before setting off again. The rain should stop tomorrow...
So yesterday, I started out by visiting Ötzi. Who or what is Ötzi you might ask. Well, he's a 5000 year old iceman that was found in the Alps by the Ötztal, 20 years ago. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ötzi It's pretty fascinating, in that he's extremely well preserved due to the climatic conditions in the area. I first heard about him on radiolab a few months ago, so I decided I should go check him out if I made it to Bolzano. It's pretty cool. http://www.radiolab.org/story/ice-cold-case/
By the time I made it back to the hotel I was drenched. Not because it rained, but because suddenly the humidity was ridiculously high. Think Louisiana in July. The forecast hadn't improved any, so I figured I'd head for Trento and see how it turned out. The precipitation percentages weren't over the top, but too high to risk the high passes. I hopped on the secondary road to Trento, fired up Coldplay on the iPhone (connected with my bluetooth helmet headset - I do love technology) and found my zen. I had picked out a loop through the hinterlands to the east of Trento. Nothing high, just nice roads through the wine country and some funky towns, so if it did start to rain it was no big deal. As it turned out the weather held, so I got a nice ride through some pretty landscape.
Trento is a "Sliding Doors" (movie) place for me. 25 years ago my advisor asked me if I wanted to got to Trento to come to work with him. I said yes, but then in the end the money did not come through. My life would have been very different. Obviously there are always junctions for all of us that dictate our paths, but this one does pop into my head every so often - obviously driving through it is a good reminder.
The weather was nice enough in Trento, so I decided to grab a quick run over Monte Bondone (1650m) that was conveniently located along one possible route to Riva. Really great run up the mountain. Wide road and good visibility through the switchbacks so it was possible to use the entire road. Also, not much traffic. Of course around 1500 m, it started to rain. Oops. Luckily it didn't amount to much and the road surface stayed dry. Then, as I crested the top, I drove into the clouds. Great, switchbacks in the fog. Once again I got lucky (probably undeservedly by now) and a few turns later things cleared up again. Very open and fast descent. Dropped 1000m in maybe 10 min. Fun run!
Arrived in Riva to find Tom & Pauline waiting by the side of the road for the apt owner. Timing is everything. We settled in, wandered around the town a bit and Tom and I went and watched some football in a local bar, while Pauline worked. I'll be here for a few days before setting off again. The rain should stop tomorrow...
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Grey
That's my mood, exactly like the weather. Should have stuck with my plan to go to Venice today. Showers, rain, thunderstorms everywhere. I have no idea what to do. Venice is now 3h away and I have no intention of finding out what a thunderstorm on a high pass is like. I'm going to look at Oetzi, but after that I have to check out and go - somewhere. This sucks.
Friday, June 27, 2014
Bozen aka Bolzano - June 27
Friday's previously miserable forecast had mellowed to the point where I plotted a path back to Trento covering several passes, with the intent to hit the Autostrada at Trento and drive to Vicenza. First one up was Passo di Gavia at 2621m. Wow, just wow. Forget Stelvio. Really. Gavio winds its way up via a narrow single lane road (by which I mean there's just enough room for a car and a bike) with a road surface quality that's rather questionable at times. The north side winds up gently and has long stretches above the tree line with great views. The south side is steeper and more dangerous. Even though switchbacks are not too bad, it has some sections where there's a whole lot of nothing on the other side of the guardrail (when there is one) for a long, long time. It also throws in a couple of 14% and 16% grades, just to make sure you're paying attention. Meeting oncoming cars isn't much fun, but luckily it didn't happen in any of the blind turns. Never know who's NOT paying attention.
Passo Tonale (1883m - I used to think that was high), which came after didn't even clear the tree line. Booooring. Actually, it was a nice run up through the trees. Fairly narrow, but not terribly steep or tight. It did catch me by surprise though that I found a sizable town up top. Apparently a major ski resort. The east side descent then was a rather wide two lane road, suitable for buses and trucks, On a bike, it made for rapid transit back down.
I stopped for lunch at a funky bar before trekking further towards Trento.
At some point I pulled over to check routes and such and noticed that Saturday's weather had largely cleared. I thus decided to head north towards Bozen with the intent of running the Dolomites on Sat. Also, the BMW had blown its headlight bulb, which made me a bit uneasy, thus going to a large German speaking city seemed like a promising possibility to take care of that - which turned out to be true. Along the way I traversed a couple more passes and came upon the Lago di Molveno. The turquoise waters in the lakes around here is just stunning. We spend way too much time trying to be a productive member of society - for whatever that's worth, rather than just enjoying the beauty of the world. I really envy people who can just toss it all and live on their own terms. Aussteiger in German. Don't think I have it quite in me...
Central Bozen is a maze of one way streets and streets closed to traffic. It took me quite a while to realize that my hotel was only accessible through the closed roads and that I was thusly authorized to to drive on them. I came very close to punting and getting out of Dodge and it would have been nice for the dingbat at reception to mention this when I called. Oh well. The town is pretty cool. Lots of bars and restaurants. I managed to have an Aperol Spritz (always extra lovely when consumed on a piazza) and eat dinner (braised donkey) before the long promised rain came.
Passo Tonale (1883m - I used to think that was high), which came after didn't even clear the tree line. Booooring. Actually, it was a nice run up through the trees. Fairly narrow, but not terribly steep or tight. It did catch me by surprise though that I found a sizable town up top. Apparently a major ski resort. The east side descent then was a rather wide two lane road, suitable for buses and trucks, On a bike, it made for rapid transit back down.
I stopped for lunch at a funky bar before trekking further towards Trento.
At some point I pulled over to check routes and such and noticed that Saturday's weather had largely cleared. I thus decided to head north towards Bozen with the intent of running the Dolomites on Sat. Also, the BMW had blown its headlight bulb, which made me a bit uneasy, thus going to a large German speaking city seemed like a promising possibility to take care of that - which turned out to be true. Along the way I traversed a couple more passes and came upon the Lago di Molveno. The turquoise waters in the lakes around here is just stunning. We spend way too much time trying to be a productive member of society - for whatever that's worth, rather than just enjoying the beauty of the world. I really envy people who can just toss it all and live on their own terms. Aussteiger in German. Don't think I have it quite in me...
Central Bozen is a maze of one way streets and streets closed to traffic. It took me quite a while to realize that my hotel was only accessible through the closed roads and that I was thusly authorized to to drive on them. I came very close to punting and getting out of Dodge and it would have been nice for the dingbat at reception to mention this when I called. Oh well. The town is pretty cool. Lots of bars and restaurants. I managed to have an Aperol Spritz (always extra lovely when consumed on a piazza) and eat dinner (braised donkey) before the long promised rain came.
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