No pain no gain
In Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy Slartibartfast wins awards for designing the Norwegian coastline. He obviously did the Portugal one too, presumably after Norway as it’s even more spectacular than his original work. We spend most of the days either moaning about some silly incline or wowing some fabulous view, which actually makes the hill pushing worthwhile. We headed further southwards through the lovely island village of Baleal which you can only access via the causeway and on to Peniche, another lovely walled town built on a promentory with an Indian restaurant ! Always...
Read MoreIt’s a new dawn, a new day and I’m feel’n good…
Porto Beach Chapel Huge waves.. Never ending cycle path… Romans must have been here! Tilly soaking up some rays.. ???? Aveiro..Portugal’s Venice. Striped houses in Casa Nova Our flight from Italy was obviously not Captained by a Italian driver, all went smoothly and we landed safely in Porto, reassembled Tilly with a slight scare when putting the chain tensioner back on the derailleur hanger and the thread was too worn for it to tighten. Fortunately I was able to remove a couple of spacers to get more purchase and it should be fine till we get home now – I hope!...
Read MoreCrapoli farewell.
Naples Castle Armed guard at Naples Cathedral. Naples Cathedral Egyptian mosaics Roman marble reliefs Underground cisterns Naples Lorenzo underground Roman city Napoli.. Shopping centre Naples Marina overlooked by Versuvius Arrivederci Italia…. About 25 years ago we came to Naples in our MG…. And hated it! The traffic was horrendous (but almost certainly far less than now) and we spent a day in our hotel peering out of the window trying to figure a good time of day to leave. So we weren’t really looking forward to coming back to this UNESCO site. Our first...
Read MoreAn escape from Naples.. almost!
Typical small back road Casserta Palace A little rural escape Beach day… Roman aquaduct at Minturnae Minturnae Roman Villa and baths at Baiae Pozzuoli underground at Pozzuoli Amphitheatre Hang on to yer hat! The cycle up from Versuvius was what we’ve come to expect now from mainland Italy around Naples. Mad drivers and rubbish eveywhere. The main roads aren’t too bad, but if you’re lucky enough to find a small back road then it will be lined with rubbish. It really is a disgustingly filthy country around here. So, what would have been a pleasant cycle was just another...
Read MoreVersuvius…
The Sicilans will tell you they’re not Italian, they’re Sicilian, except when the football team plays, when they’re Italian. Well we are now with the Italians who are Italian all the time and we’re now venturing up from Salerno to Naples and beyond. After a couple of days regrouping in Salerno and persuading Linda to get back on the bike our first stop was Stabia, a less well know Pompei. It’s not far from Salerno and there are 3 routes to get there from Salerno. Round the Amalfi coast, which was a definite no no, with all the hills and sheer drops combined with...
Read MoreSicilian woes and farewell
Taormina Amphitheatre Taormina Cathedral Lazy lunch…. Taormina stairways.. Last Sicilian breakfast… Good Morning Salerno.. Taormina is another UNESCO town on top of a big steep hill. We played it sensibly and stayed at the bottom so we could get the cable car up. Naturally it was out of order that day and we had to taxi up instead, though some people were cycling up, but they looked more Giro D’Italia than flip flop tourers, so good choice I think! When you reach the top the site to see is the Greek / Roman theatre perched on the end of an outcrop with a back drop of...
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