[YEAR 7!] Quit our jobs, sold our home, gone riding...

[lightcycle]

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/174.html

We are going to be to staying at our campsite in Riccione for another day to ride around the Appenines, the central chain of mountains that runs down the centre of Italy.

Staying another day? Then let's stock up on more cheap, Italian red wine!

Mount Titano rises up in the distance, and we can see the three towers of San Marino at the top

Our first stop of the day is San Marino, a city-state, totally surrounded by Italy, yet recognized as an independent country. We climb switchback after switchback to reach the capital town, San Marino City, which is situated on top of Mount Titano.

San Marino City's coat of arms is three towers with three plumes of smoke

San Marino has a long history of fierce independence, staying neutral in both World Wars and offering political sanctuary during the Italian unification in the 19th century. The motto and the coat of arms of the country is "Libertas", freedom from political oppression. Did you know Abraham Lincoln was a citizen of San Marino? He was given that honorary status to recognize his fight to end slavery.

Mount Titano is triple-peaked, with a castle at each peak.
We're in the first tower, Guaita, looking over at the second tower.

Did I mention my feet tingle when I look down? My toes have a spider-sense...

San Marino only covers about 60 square kms: beautiful sprawling countryside

Even the classiest places can have a little bit of kitsch. €8 for entry: Scary prices

Scenic, but expensive place to have lunch

I keep telling Neda, "It won't fit in the sidecase!"
Did you know Nutella is made in Italy? The factory is just an hour and half outside of Milan!

Basilica of San Marino

Must have been an Audi staff meeting here, lots of people in expensive suits with briefcases milling around

There's supposed to be a changing of the guard ceremony here every hour on the half-hour. We waited over an hour to see that, but they never came out. Is it still Ferragosto here?

Taking a break from all the walking around

 

[lightcycle]

After a picnic lunch on the city walls, we head back on the bikes in the afternoon to ride around the countyside. Our goal in Europe is to stay off the Autostrada as much as possible, to see as much of the country and save a bit of money as well.

We found a great winding, country lane that ran along the ridge of a hill, scenery on either side of us

Farms all around us, with the odd villa dotting the landscape

Our loop around the area takes us down to Urbino where we stop again in the late afternoon. You can't throw a tortellini without hitting a twisty road, and our favorites were the ones around Urbania and Urbino. I remarked to Neda that it's been so long since we just rode twisty roads for the enjoyment of it. Much of our Latin American trek was destination oriented, instead of focusing on the road itself.

Riding through the Piazza Rinascmento, past the Duomo di Urbino

Urbino has a real renaissance feel to it, as if there's a Leonardo da Vinci behind every door sketching fantastical inventions. We had a really good time, wandering (and riding) around the narrow cobblestone streets of town, taking in it's picturesque beauty.

Not sure if we were allowed to ride through the Piazza, still a bit of the residual Latin American mentality...

Piazza della Repubblica

He made us an offer we couldn't refuse

Marveling at the roofs of the porticos in Urbino

There was a kite festival in the town recently,
and there were decorations above all the streets

So pretty!

Leonarda in training, sketching the Ducal Palace of Urbino

More kites and palaces

Outta my way! Neda zooming through the narrow streets of Urbino!

Feels so good to be wandering around on two wheels again!

 

[zeke2.0]

Nutella we get here in the States is made in Canada and is not the same ingredients as the original Italian stuff. (Protected by enforced trade secrets).

 

[lightcycle]

Thanks everyone for the encouragement. We really appreciate you taking the time to leave your comments!

I can't drive a motorcycle anymore.. she would have to do it.. so the three wheeler may be on our list of dream machines..

I really like the CanAm Spyders. They'e very slick-looking. I've ridden trikes before - great fun trying to lift the inside wheel off the ground when going around corners!

you better be kidding about not riding and paying someone else to take pictures.

Me, relaxing in the support vehicle --> :coffeedrink:

Espero se encuentren muy bien, solo una pregunta cuando dinero es el Budget por mes que nesesitan para esta Aventura ?

Hola Angel,

our budget fluctuates from place to place, but overall in the Americas, we were slightly over $60/day for the two of us, inclusive of food, accommodation, gas, repairs/maintenance and sightseeing. The only extras were things like taking Spanish lessons in La Paz, and shipping our bikes across the Darien Gap and our Galapagos side-trip.

In Europe, we're having difficulty keeping the expenses down, but we're aiming for around €60/day for the two of us. In Italy, a fill-up for two bikes costs €55 :Wow1:, which will allow us to travel about 350kms. That means we eat less that day. Either the bikes eat well, or we do, never both the same day!

Nutella we get here in the States is made in Canada and is not the same ingredients as the original Italian stuff. (Protected by enforced trade secrets).

Canucktella! Not the same thing...

 

[ej1096]

Thank you Gene!

You, McGregor and Boorman are getting me lots of furrowed brows and eye rolls from my wife as she looks over my shoulder at my computer and sees for sale ads on BMW GS's.

Also, It's my belief that the best way to honor a loved one is to tell their story. By you sharing Neda's mom's story to so many people, you have supported Neda and honored her mother. Your posts are freakin' amazing! Thanks so much for all the time and effort you put in to them. Reading these keeps my wanderlust alive when I'm not able to travel.

 

[lightcycle]

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/175.html

My parents visited Perugia a few years ago and they really enjoyed it, so we decided to take a couple of days to explore the area. We're doing a pretty good job staying off the Autostrada, but I think we might have to hit a couple of highways if we want to see the rest of Italy before the next Ferragosto arrives!

More scenic rolling countryside roads

We stop in Urbania for an ice cream and poke around the deserted city streets

Italians observe a strict schedule when it comes to working, or I should say, NOT working. We always seem to do our traveling and wandering around during their early afternoon siesta, and we're always surprised when all the grocery stores and gas stations are closed until the early evening. Nobody is on the streets. It's like we're the last people on Earth.

Early morning view from a Perugia farmhouse

We found a place to set up our tent for a couple of nights in a farmhouse just outside of Perugia. It's a beautiful place with great views of the sunrise over the mountains in the distance, and I am up uncharacteristically before dawn to try to get some pictures.

For once, I am up before Neda!

Like we're on a movie set that calls for a stereotypical Italian farmhouse!

No Neda, we can't take him with us...

I *LOVE* being on two wheels in Italy!

There seems to be a vehicular food chain in Italy. Unlike many countries where scooters and motorcycles are at the bottom (just above bicycles), two-wheelers are actually on the top of the pyramid in Italy (with scooters actually at the pinnacle and motorcycles just below). We ride pretty much wherever we want with impunity, and I feel like Moses when traffic politely parts at the centreline like the Red Sea to let us through. There is designated two-wheeled parking everywhere (which is a bit of a force fit with our wide panniers) and unlike four-wheels, it's free everywhere in Italy. With gas prices so high here, it really is the best way to tour around this country!

Some of the Etruscan town walls surrounding Perugia still stand

The walls around Perugia reflect it's pre-Roman Empire history. The Romans called the people that lived here the Tusci or Etrusci, and that's where the name Tuscany comes from.

Beautiful medieval buildings - Palazzo dei Priori

There were a lot of young people walking around Perugia. On the steps of the Palazzo, a class of art students sat down to draw the Fontana (fountain) Maggiori. We found out later that there are a couple of major universities and a few art and music colleges in town.

Italians are all about the fashion. Check out the official police handbags!

Unfortunately, their engineering sense is not as developed as their fashion sense.
The walls of these buildings are all crooked! All it needs is a leaning tower to complete the picture!

All over the region, we kept seeing artists sketching the architecture

We plan to stroll around the pretty city streets

But first we rob a convenience store...

Off the main touristic stretches, we discover hidden alleyways with more wonderful, personal architecture

Cat with cauliflower ear - one too many street brawls

Waiting outside the hospital

Perugia is situated on a hill with the plains of the Umbra and Tiber valley below

Hanging out atop the city walls

Finally! Someone I can ask what name of the rose actually was.
Read the damn book three times and still couldn't find it..

Speaking of which...

"How did you like Perugia, Neda?"

 

[joeyabisa]

Good stuff Gene. You're very lucky to have a significant other to be able to share your dream of travel. You do an amazing job of taking us along and keeping us up on your journey. Thank you!

 

[lightcycle]

You, McGregor and Boorman are getting me lots of furrowed brows and eye rolls from my wife as she looks over my shoulder at my computer and sees for sale ads on BMW GS's.

Haha! Do it! We're great fans of our bikes.

You're very lucky to have a significant other to be able to share your dream of travel.

This is so true. Neda really enjoys riding and I'm not sure if we would have had the same experience if we were two-up on a single bike. We probably would have turned back on some of the gnarlier roads that we've trekked through and missed some amazing stuff, like the Dalton Highway to the Arctic Ocean in Alaska. It's definitely nice to have double the storage space for all of Neda's cooking stuf, hair dryer, etc. But I shouldn't poke fun, I'm carrying the same weight in electronics... :bike_rider:

 

[lightcycle]

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/176.html

All roads lead to Rome! So I guess we'll just have to go.

We take a mixture of back roads and highways to get to the Seat of the Holy Roman Empire. I'm very surprised at how well-mannered the traffic is on the highway. Sure, some of the drivers may pass a little close for comfort, barely making it into the passing lane as they tease out the smallest possible closing distance between my left pannier and their right front bumper. But the left-lane-passing-only discipline here is strict and is something that I personally hold sacred, and it's extremely satisfying to see everyone here practicing it. If only North Americans would follow the same etiquette!

Riding through Rome!

From our campsite just north of the city, we planned out our daily excursions. Rome wasn't built in a day, so we're certainly not going to trying touring it in a day either. From all accounts, the traffic in the city is supposed to be horrendous and for a brief moment we considered taking the metro into the downtown, but in the end we decided to brave the metropolis traffic, just to get a taste of the gladiatorial theatre being played out on the roads. But first, we don our armour - taking off our panniers so we could better blend in with the ruling class (scooters) and slip more easily between traffic.

Let the games begin!

My slim R1200GS parking in a scooter spot

So having ridden to and around Rome on different days at different times: weekday morning rush hour, mid-day traffic, and weekend afternoons - we rate the traffic as being very tame. I think our experience in Latin America on their congested roads really put things in perspective. There's a "road space rationing" system in effect here that only allows half the vehicles into the city limits on alternating days during business hours, depending on whether your license plate ends in an even number or odd. Just like in Mexico City, Quito, San Jose (Costa Rica) and Bogota, but this rationing system was actually invented by Julius Caesar, right here in Roma!

There are still a lot of cars on the road, but we used to live in Toronto - fourth-largest city in North America! So we know about sharing the road with a million other vehicles. What really made the Roman traffic bearable for us was how lane-splitting was such an intrinsic part of two-wheeled transit. With our newly-slim profiles, we just followed the line of scooters, like ants marching through the concrete jungle, as they discovered and zoomed through cracks and crevices in the traffic that would have made our previously fat-bottomed GSes think twice.

When in Rome, do as the scooters do!

Other kinds of two-wheeled transit in front of the Vatican

We're also visiting a new country today! The Vatican City State is an independent nation, totally surrounded by but walled off from Rome. We've now visited two countries (San Marino as well) without ever leaving the borders of Italy! We stood in line for two hours trying to get into the Vatican Museum.

They even made these sisters wait in line, which is total nun-sense.

I was really excited to visit the Vatican, but didn't know a lot about it before this visit. The main reason why I was interested was because I loved the book, Angels and Demons, and Ob-E-Wan McGregor was in the movie as well! He plays the role of the Camerlengo, which in Italian means, "One who drops their bike repeatedly". It's also a word I love saying, because I'm infantile that way. Camerlengo.

Rome is where the art is

The Vatican Museum is packed to the gills with countless statues, paintings and tourists. More tourists than art: wall-to-wall (fresco-to-fresco?) visitors from all over the world move from room to room in the museum. The most annoying are the guided tours, because the tour operators carry these long sticks with different scarves or flags at the top so the group can find their leader, but also do a great job blocking all the paintings on the wall. Good thing there's a lot of artwork on the ceilings...

Funky spiral staircase in the Vatican Museum

Neda blends in with the pretty girls in the painting

One thing that went through my mind while visiting the Vatican was how far the religion's sphere of influence extended. We spent a year and a half roaming around Latin America, visiting churches and seeing all the religious iconography in their culture, and now, here, in the seat of Roman Catholicism you really get a sense of the power that conquered the lands and minds of people half a world away.

"Excuse me, signore. I need to see the Camerlengo now because of an Illuminati plot to destroy the Vatican"

Panorama camera works sideways too!

We got to see the Sistine Chapel and Michelangelo's painting on the ceiling: The Creation of Adam - you know, the one with the Monty Python finger of God reaching out to Naked Adam. We weren't allowed to take pictures because the chapel is a holy place of worship, but what really struck me was how large the ceiling was and how small the Creation of Adam is in relation to it. There were lots of other paintings surrounding it and on the walls. I don't mean to sound heretical, but the Creation of Adam kind of underwhelmed me. Maybe because it's so widely published, it's gained a larger-than-life status. Personally, I liked some of the other paintings in the Sistine Chapel more. But I'm not an Art Historian, so what do I know...

Wonder what's in the case? Anti-matter perhaps?

When they made the film Angels and Demons they had to digitally recreate the Vatican because they didn't have permission to film there after the church got angry over the plot of The Da Vinci Code. It's a good thing they did because there's always construction and seats and stages set up for special events held at St. Peter's Square and the Basilica. On a typical day, it's not that photogenic at street-level.

Baroque palaces of the Piazza Navona

Egyptian writing on the Obelisk in the Piazza Navona. Come on! If that's not an Illuminati clue, I don't know what is!

Expensive phone call - because of the Roamin' Charges.

Wandering around the streets of Rome

All ready for picnic at the Pantheon

The Pantheon, right in the heart of Rome, was magnificent. Just the size of it was gargantuan and the material that it was made of was so polished and ancient that it seemed almost fake, as if it were created for a movie. Out of all the buildings in this city, this one impressed me the most, so I took a picture of a car in front of it. Fiats are everywhere in Italy, and I'd totally get an old 500L to tool around in if I was living here.

Vittorio Emanuele II Monument

Ruins near the Roman Forum

 

[lightcycle]

The Colosseum - largest amphitheatre in the world!

When I was a kid, I had a book filled with cartoons of places all over the world. I don't remember any of the other pages except for the one with the Colosseum in Rome, for some reason it really grabbed my imagination. So seeing this up close brought back that one childhood memory. In fact, this trip has really made my inner-five-year-old ecstatic! I don't think I'd ever have imagined back then that I'd be standing in front of and walking around all the things I saw on TV documentaries and books that I've read.

As we approached the Colosseum, Neda asked me, "Which do you like better, the Roman Colosseum or Pula's Arena?" She said it in exactly the same way that your girlfriend would ask, "Do you think that girl is prettier than me?" I hesitated. Big mistake... My legs still hurt from all the back-pedaling I had to do.

Tip for all you guys out there: your girlfriend or wife's home-town amphitheatre is always prettier than the Roman Colosseum. ALWAYS.

Arch of Titus, near the Colosseum

So many tourists, everywhere! And everything's under construction or fenced off, so not as pretty as in the postcards...

My panoroma camera managed to capture the world's thinnest woman!

Riding the Appian Way! My favorite part of Rome was leaving it! Literally.

The Appian Way is a on old military road that connected Rome to the south-eastern most reaches of the country. You know the expression, "All roads lead to Rome"? It was in reference to this road, where hundreds of thousands of Roman Legionnaires' sandaled feet polished the cobblestones on this well-worn path to and from the capital.

Capo di Bove, Appian Way

There are so many beautiful old buildings and ruins in Rome that I'm glad we spent a bit of time just being tourists, but sharing it with so many thousands of other people really bummed me out. The very large and rough cobblestones on the Appian Way meant that there wasn't a lot of vehicular traffic through here. There are 4x4 Jeep tours (a bit of an overkill) that you can hire to take you along the Appian Way, but the road is mainly sprinkled with the odd hiker stopping along the way to see an old building or ruins along the path. Nice and quiet, just the way we like it!

The suspension on our GSes really got a workout as this was the first dual-sportish road since arriving in Europe! The cobblestone rocks are so polished that I can't imagine how slippery it must be when it rains.

Stopping to admire the scenery

The Appian Way has numerous stories to tell. Spartacus, the renegade gladiator, was defeated along this road by a trap laid by the Romans. Even as late as WWII, the Allies fell on this same road at the Battle of Anzio that lasted four months. Lots of history here.

Smoke is from a BBQ from one of the many swanky estates that can afford an Appian Way address

Villa dei Quintili, along the Appian Way

 

[joeyabisa]

Good stuff Gene. I love Rome. I think it has a special, great energy. Thanks for all the pics!

 

[Wainiha]

"Roamin' charges"...funny.

You really are good at this internet thread thing. Pictures are great as usual.

 

[lrover52]

Nice trip and pictures - Great !

Bernard

 

[lightcycle]

Thanks guys, appreciate the comments!

 

[lightcycle]

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/177.html

From Rome, we tried to hug the western coastline as we ventured further south. We stopped for the evening just outside of Naples at a campsite we found on the Internet, but it turned out to be The Most Expensive Campsite In The World, because it was situated on the grounds of a dormant volcano. We didn't know this beforehand, but since it was starting to rain, we decided to set up our tent instead of trying to look for another place.

There was no 3G signal on the campsite, so we had to hike out of the campsite to the main road so we could log onto AirBnB to find someplace warm and dry for the next couple of nights. We've done some pretty vagabond-ish stuff on this trip, like camping out in a Walmart McDonald for hours stealing their free wi-fi. But nothing will top sitting on a bus stop bench in the pouring rain while taking chugs from a tetra pak of red wine. We looked like a couple of miserable, wet hobos, but after the tetra-pak was done, we turned into a couple of happy, wet hobos. Red, red wine, make me feel so fine...

Campground Cat is laughing at how much we paid last night

In the morning, before leaving, I told Neda, "We should probably go see their stupid volcano to make it worth our money". It wasn't very large, you could probably walk around the rim of the crater in 15 minutes.

Inside the crater of Vulcano Solfata there was all sorts of fissures sending up steams of smelly gas

Crocs were probably a bad idea for this hike

We met Petr and his friend, two R1200GS riders from the Czech Republic, who also stayed at the campsite last night

We continued south on the coastline trying to find the closest road to the sea, and we were rewarded with a scenic cobblestone ride into Naples. For once, the sun was out and we peered over the edge of the road as it twisted around the steep cliffs overlooking the blue Tyrrhenian Sea. A very nice ride!

Our cobblestone ride takes us into Naples

Neda staring at Mount Vesuvius in the distance

Don't ******* with the Scooter Mafia! This car parked in scooter parking and paid the price.

We just can't get used to the Italian siesta, called the riposo, which closes down all shops and stores from... basically whenever the sun is in the sky. We always seem to be perpetually off-sync, knocking on shuttered doors hoping to get gas or food while we're on the road.

We're also out of sync with Italians mealtimes as well. The restaurants only seem to be open on a very rigid schedule: a couple of hours for lunch and then only after 7PM for dinner. Because we had an early breakfast, we were starving by 11AM. With our bellies complaining loudly, I knocked on the door of one establishment where there seemed to be people inside preparing for the lunch hour. One of the employees peeked his head out and told us it would be another hour before they opened. My stomach and I grumbled in unison. I think it must have been a bakery because from inside, when his co-worker asked about us, I distinctly heard him mention "mangia" and then "cake"...

Ever seen a cake eat a pizza?

Did you know pizza was invented in Naples? They take their pie-making very seriously in the city. There's even an Associazone Verace Pizza Napoletana, which certifies pizzerias around the world to the Neopolitan standard according to an 11-page document that outlines stringent regulations like the acidity of the yeast, thickness of the pie, and the ingredients like the fresh tomatoes and buffalo cheese, which all have to come from the area surrounding Naples. This pretty much guarantees that the only certified Pizza Napoletana can only come from Naples.

After eating one of these certified pies, I feel a bit more Italian so from now on, I'm going to start using the Italian names of the places we're visiting. For the Mangiacakes out there, here's a quick reference: Napoli = Naples, Roma = Rome, Bologna = Baloney!