May 4-7 Venice Lido- Our fifteenth cycling trip to Europe and our fourth trip with Experience Plus took us to Venice, Italy. The trip actually started on the "Lido" a 10 mile strip of land next to the main island of Venice. It was quiet, full of greenery and a great starting place.
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| Venice from 5,000 ft |
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| Waiting for the boat to the Lido |
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| First night shot on one of the Lido's canals |
May 8, Lido to Chioggia- Our first official day of riding started with rain. As a result the guides decided it was best to take the ferry boat all the way from Lido to Chioggia. Once in Chioggia we had a marvelous lunch of fresh branzino, then off to ride to our hotel, an Agritouriso in San Martino di Venezze.
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| The happy couple on the boat |
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| Our bikes |
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| The famous clock tower in Chioggia |
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| More clock tower art |
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| Fresh branzino, polenta, and roasted veggies lunch |
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| Our agritourismo |
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| Excellent "natural" wines made at the hotel |
May 9, San Martino to Ferrara- Lots of "commercial farmland" today. A bit boring riding the levees along the Po river. But, Ferrara proved to be an interesting city steeped in history. Ferrara's founders were incredibly visionary creating a city that was able to enlarge well beyond its origins.
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| River riding |
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| WWII bomb was found |
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| Military trucks to diffuse the bomb |
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| Famous castle in Ferrara |
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| View from our restaurant |
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| Very popular pesce crudo. Delicious |
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| More fish |
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| Tempura, who would of thunk! |
May 10, Ferrara to Ravenna- It poured rain all day so they decided to shuttle us to Ravenna via a crazy agriturismo for lunch. Ravenna is famous for it mosaics. Unfortunately they were high up in the churches and hard to appreciate.
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| Nice lunch where the 94 yr old grandma made some delicious raviolis |
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| Crazy artwork made by the owner |
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| More of his handiwork |
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| Ravenna mosaics |
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| Ravenna mosaics |
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| The best closeup I could get... |
May 11, Ravenna to Faenza- Finally able to ride today, but windy and rainy!! Faenza the home of our tour compay, Experience Plus, European headquarters. They prepared a beautiful and tasty lunch. We got the scoop on a local bar that reminded us of something in downtown Los Angeles. Full of hipsters!
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| Our lunch spread at EP headquarters |
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So fun to connect with Sylvia who is an accountant
there and on our trip in Brittany last year |
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| Part of their fleet of 400 bikes! |
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| Faenza is famous for its Mallorcan ceramics |
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Our cool, hipster bar recommended by the EP guides.
The middle shelf is all gins! Some good ones!! |
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Found this place right down the street from our hotel!
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May 12, Faenza to Ronta, over the Apennines- Our first real great day of riding. We rode 40 miles and climbed 4,000 vertical feet. Stunning scenery. This is why we come on these trips. We escaped the rain until the last few turns on the descent before our hotel. The others in the group were not so lucky...
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| Finally some rolling terrain |
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Many sections of this road had these
stop lights for one-way travel |
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| Our rain jackets stuffed behind the seat, ready for action |
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| A simple, but delicious panino for lunch |
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| Cool local fountain for water |
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Top of the "cime" taken by our tour guide
that we rode up the mountain with |
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| Hotel in Ronta post the downpour |
May 13, Ronta to Florence- A nice descent, then a short climb to Fiesole, small hill town above Florence. Easy descent into Florence. We made it. Another famous city checked off of the bucket list.
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| Fiesole outlook |
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| Looking down to Florence |
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Nice little lunch in Fiesole. Many cyclists climbing out of
this town up the mountain that we descended |
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View of the Arno river out of our
hotel room in Florence |
May 14, Florence, rest day- The rain continued today as we did our best to enjoy the 3 hour walking tour. A lot of interesting things to see. Our guide was full of great historical insights.
Dinner was on our own and we hit the jackpot. The day before with went to a hotel bar while doing our laundry and asked the bartender where she liked to eat. She recommended Locale Firenze. Wow! It was rated the #3 bar in Italy and #39 in the world.
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| Famous Florentine Bistecca. This steak is cut 4" thick |
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| Locale Firenze. Just one side of this incredible bar |
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| Smoked flower soup |
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| Dessert taco |
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| Fantastic dessert presentation |
May 15, Florence to Vinci- The weather cooperated and we had another nice day of riding and climbing to Vinci, the birthplace of Leonardo DaVinci.
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| The "rideable" wall |
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| Vinarkia, fabulous bar |
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| Carpaccio, fennel, and oranges |
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| Chicken burrito..what!!! |
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| Lovely Tuscan gin martini |
May 17, Pisa- The weather was dicey so we decided to pack up the bike and take the train to Pisa. Good idea! Pisa was a zoo. I'm glad we took the train.
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| All packed up... |
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| The same Arno river in Florence, now downriver in Pisa |
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| The must have shot! |
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| Basilica... |
May 18, Pisa airport to Parma- We picked up our very nice Audi A4 wagon (big enough to accommodate our bike cases and luggage) at the Pisa airport and headed to Parma. The weather started off nice then reverted to our old friend Mr. Rain! Parma proved to be a very nice, walkable town with plenty of bars and restaurants.
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| Two beauties |
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| Loved this AutoRoute stop, AutoGrill, full of everything |
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| AutoGrill 3 ft. salamis. Too big for our suitcase! |
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Arrival lunch at our hotel.
When in Parma, have the ham! |
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| Main square in Parma |
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| Our favorite bar on the trip, Choice |
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Two owners had a second business--Ice.
Note the manual ice saws on the wall. |
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Every cocktail with ice had their logo
branded in the ice. Nice touch! |
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The bar only had seating for 15...
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May 19, Parma, Modena- One of our objectives on this trip was to go to a Parmesan Reggiano factory and learn how the cheese is made. Interesting and incredibly laborious. No wonder it's so expensive. After the tour we decided to drive to the Ferrari museum in Modena. It was worth the drive.
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| Nice map of all the areas the parmesan comes from |
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The vats where it all starts. Nothing is done here until the local milk,
which makes this cheese special, comes in |
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| Cheese cloth resting station |
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| Extended resting area |
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| Pre-aging |
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Final aging room. Actually there were two with over
5,000 wheels weighing about 75 lbs. each |
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| The official Reggiano stamp |
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| Our little tasting. 24 month was out favorite |
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| Sign says it all. Enzo's house |
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| Stunningly beautiful cars from the mid '50s |
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| 1947 race car |
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| The engine room |
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| All the engines made since 1948 |
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| I couldn't forget my favorite. The new SUV, Purosangue. Only $400K |
May 19, back in Parma for dinner- We ventured back to the Choice Bar for more interesting spirits. This bar does not serve wine, only spirits. We asked the owner for a dinner recommendation and he called over to this friend's place, Don Antonio, a Sicilian fisherman, and got us a table. What a treat!
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| Cheers |
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| Two of our favorite guys on the trip- Choice bar owners |
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| Don Antonio, nestled down a quiet street |
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| We were greeted by their fish aging locker |
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| Excellent Sicilian white from Mt. Etna |
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| Beautiful starter |
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| Fun shrimp crudo |
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| Interesting soup |
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| Lovely fish raviloi |
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| More fish and greens |
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| Crazy cool palate cleanser |
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| Beautiful and delicious dessert |
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As if that was not enough, a small
treasure chest with chocolate goodies, finito! |
May 20, Parma to Lake Garda/San Giacomo- Time to head to the mountains via Lake Garda, Italy's largest lake. It was great to get out of the city and head to higher elevation. Rain once again, but not a problem in the car! Our hotel was absolutely lovely and exceeded our expectations. The view of the ski area across the road, the room, the spa, the food and spirits were excellent.
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| Surprised when I saw this book where they were listed |
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| Hotel bar looking out to the ski area |
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| Cool local gins |
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| More good stuff |
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| Outdoor jacuzzi |
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| Main dining room |
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| Another delicious fish crudo |
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| Lovely soup |
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| Pasta with crudo shrimp and caviar |
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Can't miss with this. We found the Courvoisier XO to be
lighter than others we've had. Very enjoyable |
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| Very from our room |
May 21, Relaxing in San Giacomo- This was a full day of enjoying ourselves; short walk, massages, and tasting menu for dinner.
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| Finally some sun! |
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| More mountain views |
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| Excellent pizza lunch |
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| True Greek salad |
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| Excellent Veneto rose and a great EVO |
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| Great local gin |
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| Pre-dinner martini |
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| Tasting menu area of the restaurant |
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| Incredible local Pinot. A real surprise. |
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| Mushrooms |
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| Interesting beef tartare |
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| Incredible deconstructed tiramisu |
May 21, San Giacomo, Lake Garda to Mira- It was tough to say goodbye to this lovely resort. The owners were incredibly gracious. I highly recommend this place. We drove over the mountain then along the eastern shore of Lake Garda. It was bustling! The Giro de Italia bike race would be riding the western shore the next day. There were cyclists everywhere.
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| The most northern end of the lake |
