Lake Maggiore

We arrived at Villa Pozzo D'Anone on the shores of Lake Maggiore on Saturday night. Quite a lovely lake and a lovely Villa. We quickly discovered that there were only a handful of guests at the villa as it is not yet high season for Italian vacations. As such, the restaurant was not yet open and other amenities were a bit scarce. Fortunately, the owners decided to upgrade us to a suite and offered to serve us breakfast in the room (normally an extra charge). So the negatives (restaurant and fitness facility closed) were more than made up for by the positives (suite upgrade, breakfast in room). The day we arrived it had been stormy so the first night was a bit damp and chilly. Fortunately the weather started to clear up on Sunday (partial clouds) and by Monday it was great (blue sky, twenty-five degrees). We had the best value for money dinner so far of the trip on Saturday; Ctos had an excellent fish soup (really a mussels, clams, crawfish and shrimp soup) as well as a good pasta while Lisa had a yummy piedmontese ravioli. Our first full day was spent touring about; driving to the top of Mottarone (a ski slope in winter; see picture) and visiting the shores of lovely Lake Orta. On Monday we discovered we were the only guests, the rest having been here for the weekend alone. We spent Monday relaxing and reading in the sun.

One night in Florence

So we arrived midday in Florence. We have been here before a long time ago, with Julian and his parents, but didn't mind coming back for just one night. We visited Il Domo.. It is unbelievable how many tourists are here and it is not even the height of summer yet. We sat on the steps of the church watching the 'gypsies' begging and then becoming quickly scarce when the carbinari were in sight. We finally ventured into the church, Il Domo is quite beautiful but still pales in comparison to St. Pete's in Rome.

We then visited a 'paper' shop on the way to our hotel.. It's a shop run by a few older gentleman who are the best sales people I have ever experienced. As soon as I walked in one of the guys showed me how they make their special hand painted paper, he was really sweet. They usually charge 4 euros for a sheet but they gave it to me as a gift - the gesture was so nice!


So we are only here for one night and then off to the lake region for more relaxation.. Life is good!

Dievole in Tuscany Part II

It is our last full day at Villa Dievole and we have had a wonderful time. Yesterday we tried to go to Montalcino with a quick trip to Siena to start. We did not get far as it was market day in Siena (ie crazy with no parking) and we soon realized Montalcino was quite some drive away. So instead we toured about north of Villa Dievole. Lisa was an excellent driver, Ctos was a bad navigator. After much driving on bumpy roads we finally made it to Monteriggione in the afternoon which was quite fun (see Lisa as Sir Lisa Lovesalot picture from the local museum). We made it back to Villa Dievole in time for dinner in the Cellar which was awesome ... as is sometimes the case with us when enjoying ourselves we may have had a bit too much of the free flowing wine and were up until 2am with two other couples we met

Dinner with GianFranco

Our first night in Tuscany we had dinner at our friend GianFranco's (the Italian wine merchant we met on our bike tour earlier), his wife and two other guests (Karina and her husband Edmundo as well as their lovely seven month old daughter Sophia). It was quite lovely. A nice pasta with pumpkin, zucchini and leek followed by roast pork and dessert of fresh berries and ice cream. The bottle of Brunello was excellent! After dinner, conversation lasted until just about midnight and then Lisa drove home on windy dark roads. All in all an excellent night; thank you GianFranco and Gigliola!

Dievole in Tuscany

We took the train to Florence from Lucca and rented a car for the drive south to Dievole which is a resort about 10 km north of Siena nestled in vineyards. The resort is wonderful, with good food, excellent service and fine wine. In less than an hour we are off to a wine tasting in the cellar! The photo in this post is from a nice spot on the 2km walk that the resort has through its grounds.

Lucca!

Took the train from Verona to Lucca ... was supposed to be 4 hours but ended up being 5 as we missed one connection (by 20 seconds ... saw it pull away from the station!). Had a good dinner the night of our arrival and wandered about a bit. Today we rented bikes from the hotel and biked around town. Climbed the Guinigi Tower, descended under the Cathedral (which had layers all the way back to Roman times - see photo) and raised a glass of Brunello. Tomorrow we are off to a castle-resort about 12 km from Siena (situated in 400 hectares of Chianti vineyards!) for two days ... Lucca is worth the visit.

Duble Buble in Verona

We biked 40km to Verona, the last day of cycling. When we arrived we discovered an open air market on the main street near the ancient Ampitheatre. Ctos unleashed the shopping beast and bought wine, olive oil, salami, cheese etc. After a rest at the hotel it was out for dinner. We wandered about for an hour until Ctos found a place that looked good as it was not too brash in its exterior marketing. A few minutes after we sat down for dinner (near the entrance), who should walk in but Michael Buble, his Brazilian supermodel girlfriend and two others (bodyguard and assistant?). Turns out Buble was performing the next night at the ampitheatre. We managed to get a photo of Buble and Lisa together ... The funniest thing was that a few hours later as we stumbled back to the hotel (having polished off two bottles of wine at dinner and street beers later) whom should we find in the hotel elevator but Buble and his crew again! Ctos is convinced Buble is following him!

White Snow and the Seven Bicyclists

After having met GianFranco on the way to Pescheria De Garda, he invited us to dinner with his group of seven bicyclists that evening.

His group are all men who get together once a year to ride without the wives etc ... the boys week! We had a great dinner overlooking Lake Garda and chatted (mostly with GianFranco as his English was the best of the group) about philosophy, language, culture etc. GianFranco suggested that Lisa was "White Snow" and his group the "Seven Dwarves".

Lake Garda

Had a great ride today to Lake Garda, although we could have done without the head wind! Arrived at the north end of Lake Garda and took a boat to the south end. Ontario may be the land of lakes but Lake Garda puts them to shame. We struck up a conversation with Gianfranco, one of a group of seven bikers who is doing the same ride as us (although they end in Mantua and we end in Verona). Had dinner with the seven bike guys in Pescheria De Garda; very reasonable prices and excellent food. Gianfranco is in the wine business and has given us some ideas of places to go in both Tuscany and Piedmont. He even says he can arrange a cellar tour or two for us!

Merano - Trento

This was the longest ride of our cycling.. 70km Lisa was very nervous but the ride turned out to be no problem. The weather is starting to improve.. although it is still chilly in the shade. Cycling has been fabulous. It is along a cycling trail.. We met Jose on the trail, he asked us to take his picture. Jose put it all in perspective... he had been on the trail since somewhere in Germany and was cycling for 20 days straight.. Jose was probably late 50's and carrying all his stuff on his bike.

We are now firmly in Italy.. No more German food and language.

The church and it's history on Trento was fascinating - the changes in the architecture of the Church over hundreds of years and the ancient Roman ruins that the church was built upon.

We ate at a fancy restaurant off the central square. The food was good but unfortunately the service was not..

We are looking forward to getting deeper into Italy.. Food , wine, and the people.

Trauttsmandorff in Merano

The town of Merano was the second stop on our ride and although it is not well known today, in the past it was quite a popular holiday destination for its alpine beauty and spa. We visited the Trauttsmandorff Gardens and Museum which was just amazing! The gardens are extensive having several walks such as "trees of the world", "the sun gardens", "landscapes of south Tyrol" and "the water and terraced gardens". The gardens also contain an aviary (with colourful parrots etc) and the Trautsmandorff museum of tourism which outlines the evolution of the region as a tourist destination. A special exhibit on the olfactory sense was also quite interesting. All in all we spent over 3.5 hours wandering around (and this after the day's ride!)

Resia Pass - the Ride Begins!

The day started chilly and there was some debate as to whether riding was a good idea...

Our driver took us up the Alps to Resia Pass where it was a balmy 4 degrees! Lisa wisely decided not to ride and took the car back down to Silandro (our destination for the night). Ctos refused to be intimidated and layered up for the ride.

The 45km ride was amazing. Sure it started chilly but by the end it was quite nice and the layers were all in Ctos' saddle bag.

Raising a glass - May 15

We took a short train ride to Italy.. Happy to be in a land of much better food. We arrived in Bolzano - It's cold and riding is supposed to start tomorrow..

Back at home, our friends Laura and JP are getting married. We wish them a life of health and happiness and raised a glass to them while eating at the Betzenhaus.

Innsbruck

We trained from Vienna to Innsbruck, just under 5 hours on the train. The weather has not been great and seemed to be even worse when we arrived in Innsbruck. It was raining on and off and unseasonably cold. And in typical Lisa and Ctos style, we continued to wear our Birkenstocks (definitely my shoe of choice... just like Auntie Linda!) This was cause for lots of staring as we walked through the quaint old town.

Innsbruck is a beautiful place, burrowed in between the snowcapped mountains. Full of tourists, it is a great place biking, hiking and skiing enthusiasts. Our visit here was only one night and in the early evening the light rain gave way to an all night downpour. Locals indicated that Innsbruck is actually well known for its good weather and this was an anomaly. In warm sunny weather, this place would be incredible. We saw the golden roof and visited the museum to learn more about it.

By far, the best thing about Austria is the beer.

Austrian Wine

Just outside the city proper of Vienna, there is a small wine region with vineyards and all!

We ventured outside the city to check it out. It was a bit if a let down, not the winery and tasting opportunities that we are used to. However, we did sit down at a local place to taste at least one wine. The wine was okay but more interestingly, it was served in a mug.. Yes a full mug of wine – worthy of my mother (and Auntie Sandra!)

Beer Garden!

We arrived on Monday morning. Note that Austrian Air is worse than Air Can...

Austria reminds us both of Berlin / Germany. Yesterday we visited St. Stephens church -- it was nice but nothing really compares to the Pope's house.. We also went to a museum and learned about Elisabeth the Empress of Austrian Empire - it was interesting. Food is pretty good and the Beer is amazing!

Nothing says Austrian like a Beer Garden! It truly is the melding of two beautiful things...