After a wonderful time in Florence and a 50 day's journey, I have now made my way across the Appenine Mountains and the Alps:
Day 43: Barberino - Bologna, 155km. I had to climb mountain passes of 900 metres twice while crossing the Appenine Mountains (Italy is damn mountainous!!).
Day 44: Bologna - Verona, 149km. Flat road between Bologna and Verona, across the Po River valley. It was striking how much more industrialized Italy is north of the Appenine mountains/Bologna. I could proceed fast and had the afternoon off to take a look at lovely Verona (Juliet's balcony!). The campsite was exceptional: It was within the ruins of an old fort/castle; the section for the tents was within the remainders of a tower, and grapevine plants acted as some kind of a roof of the tower above the tents. Sheltered and closely packed with tents as the site was, though, one could hear every single bit the neighbors where doing :-p In particular, the snoring of one guy disturbed the whole community in the middle of the night, which led another person to try to de-activate the snoring of the guy by clapping repeatedly (referring to sound-activated electrical switches/TVs/gadgets/etc) and instantly making everybody else laugh. Unfortnately, the snoring of the guy could not be de-activated by clapping -.-
Day 45: Verona - Trento, 139km. I went along Lake Garda and then along the Adige/Etsch river into the Alps. Thanks to the river valley, it is possible to penetrate into the Alps as far as Trento (and further to Meran the next day) without actually going higher than a couple of hundred meters. Also, I was very happy to finally find a real cycling route along the river (which would continue all the way to Germany along the rivers Adige and Inn). Great stuff :-)
Day 46: Visit of Trento city centre. It was rainy and the decisive Tour de France day, too, so I stayed in Trento and watched the time trail on TV with two other Dutch cyclists I met on the camp site (who were on the way from Amsterdam to Rome). I also took a look at the cathedral which hosted the famous Council of Trent (--> Counter Reformation as a response to Luther)
Day 47: Trento - Meran/Merano, 134km. I continued my way across the Alps, but still in the valleys, towards Meran, 134km along apple plantations ;-)
Day 48: Meran - Landeck (Austria), 115km. This day, I had to actually cross the main ridge of the Alps at the Reschenpass at over 1,500 meters above sea level (one of the lowest points to cross the main ridge). It was a gentle slope, and even though I had the so-called "Reschen wind" - a strong wind blowing from north to south - blowing in my face, the crossing did not take as long as expected, which was good.
Day 49: Landeck - Füssen (Germany), 108km. The last day in the Alps, I had to cross another mountain pass of 1,200 meters above sea level, the Fernpass, but the traffic (unfortunately no cycling track on the actual pass..) turned out to be more annoying than the steepness of the route.
I have been staying with my parents in Füssen in the south of Germany - right next to the Neuschwanstein castle - who have come here for their vacation. Tomorrow, though, I will leave and head back home. The route planned is roughly Füssen - Augsburg - Rothenburg o.d. Tauber - Würzburg - Fulda - along the rivers Fulda and Weser to Bremen. I think it will be another 1,100km. Will tell you in due time if everything worked out well :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment