Florence and the Fiat 500

Night racing in Modena

Ferrari

Maranello the home of Ferrari.

Thunder and rain

Woke up this morning to the sound of blat blat on my tent. That's the sound if rain. So quickly took off my cloths from the line and went back inside and tent then the heavens opened up in full force. So what to do? Get on a train and go some where, that's what you do when it's raining. Rode back to La Spitzia and jumped on a train heading to Modena.  

Why Modena? It's the home of Ferrari and I hope to tour the factory today. Fingers crossed. 

Cinque Terre

I was recommended that if in the is part of Italy that I had to visit the Cinque Terre. It comprises of five villages and each with it unique feel. They are Monterosso, Vernassa, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. They can all be very easily reached by train and if you so wanted could see all of them in a day. I took the train into Monterrosso and then cycled to Vernassa. A word of warning here. Do not even think about cycling this if you don't like hills. The gradient is the hardest I've done to date and if it come at the start of my trip I know I could not of done it. Online information state that out of 10 this is a 9. Also it goes on and on and if your up for a challenge and fit enough, give it a go. Also something to think about if your cycling it. Be careful not to over heat the rims. When coming down you will be on the brakes all the way because it is super steep. At one point I touched the rims and I thought the tyres might explode. I didn't know at the time but that's how I damaged a tyre in the Sierra mountains.

I arrived into Vernassa completely wet from sweat and decided that I would stay the night there if possible. As soon as you enter the village there is a coffee shop / restaurant on the left. I stopped and had an iced coffee. I asked if there were any rooms and was told that there no rooms available in the hole place. I did find a room. In fact it was amazing. Its really hard to explain but here goes. After asking a coffee shop if they had a room this lady said she did. We sorted the bike in a lock up in the square and she then lead me up some steps, which lead to more steps and of cause more steps until I reached what must of been the top of the village which in built on top of rocks. Once inside of cause there had to be more steps but the room had a double bed clean cotton sheets and a balcony. Opening the slated doors to the balcony reviled a sea view. But the main thing was the cool sea breeze that filled the room. A quick shower in the shared but very nice bathroom and I was set for dinner. I took dinner in the main square and watched as a band was setting up for the nights entertainment. After dinner I watched the band for a while and then decided it was time for bed. I had one of the best nights sleep in such a long time. Breakfast was taken on a wooden deck overlooking the sea. Simply lovely. I met some nice people at breakfast who are from Oz and then again at the station, when I was taking the train to Corniglia.

When I arrived at Corniglia I rode out and up into the mountains. The thing was that the road I used going out was the same road I used going in to Vernazza. So in fact some how I had sort of ridden back into Vernazza. To cut a long story short I didn't care. It was simply a beautiful but hard ride. The Cinque Terra is truly something you have to visit if in this part of Italy. I have loved every moment of it and will come back again. I've met lots of lovely people in this area like David and Morgan who were also on bikes the couples at breakfast and Steve, Sally and Audrey.  I think they would all say that the Cinque Terra is hard work but the views are amazing.

Vernazza

A beautiful place to meet new people. Hello to Steve, Sally and their daughter Audrey. A truly lovely couple and their daughter on the last leg of their European holiday. I really enjoyed chatting to you guys. Hey Steve!  If the record scratched, get a yourself a new one?.