Month: May 2019

[Sorry for uploading so many posts all at once. It takes me a long time to prepare the photos and the posts and I haven’t had time or psychic space to do any for a while. It will slow down…I promise!]

Our first day of riding was up to the Republic of San Marino. I’ve always wanted to go there, ever since I collected stamps as a kid. San Marino, like Lichtenstein, was a big producer of fancy stamps. And anyhow it’s a cool place: an independent country inside Italy.

The town is a series of castles perched on the top of a ridge of cliffs. I wouldn’t want to live there. Too high, too vertical.

Built right out of rock. Lots of stairs. Here I am carrying my bike down from one of the towers/castles.

Oh yes, the Giro comes here too. They have a time trial that ends up here. The signature color of the Giro is pink, so they have painted several streets and bike paths bright pink. It’s kind of alarming. But fun. 🙂

I took the train across Italy with my bike, so instead of paying €185 for a car, I paid €19 plus a €3.5 bicycle ticket. Yay!! You just hang your bike up.

We’ve stayed at a bike hotel. It’s been great: huge bike room downstairs, all the other guests are cyclist groups from Germany, Holland, France. They serve a second lunch in the afternoon so you can ride all morning and then come in and eat (until 4:30!).

This year the Giro D’Italia comes through here, so all the towns are celebrating.

I’m loving being here. This trip I know other people in the group, so I’ve got pals. It’s comforting to have friends when I meet so many new faces.

We decided we would ride together the next day, up to San Marino.

Before I dive into blogging about my bike trip in Italy, here’s a few shots from when I escaped the wedding activities…

I fit in a short glimpse of two shows at the Tate Britain. They have the largest collection of Turner’s in the world.

And the next day, I went to the Van Gogh exhibit. Did you know he spent three years in London? The Tate made it an excuse for a show. I had never seen any of his sketches. Very cool.

…and The Shard…

And this final shot, plastered on a random utility box on the sidewalk.

This post is, of course, dedicated to Tom. My brother was diagnosed with late stage pancreatic cancer a few weeks ago and we all went into shock!

Tom and his girlfriend took the shock to a place of joy when they decided, goshdarnit, to finally get married. So we had a zillion foods moments ( lunch, breakfast, etc) with lots of people as my brothers and I got to know Vikki’s family and friends.

We had breakfast with Tom and Vikki and Serena, who flew in from Portland OR. We had dinner with Tom’s daughters.

We had lunch the next day with the Carters (Tom’s close friends) and the Hursts (Vikki’s family).

All us siblings flew in for the big event and it was wonderful to be all around each other for a few days.

Tom looks good, is cheery, but can’t eat much and so has lost weight. That also makes him tired, so he spent a lot of time in or on his bed.

Xxx

I love these guys!!!

Look at those cheeses!Only true wine connoisseurs can enter!I love this sculpture, by my friend Douglas Robinson.The long road of pilgrimage through Italy comes through here. The most popular sections are in Italy, but the route actually begins in Canterbury, England.Many small villages (& plenty of bigger towns) have monuments to commemorate their locals who fell in the world wars. This is a particularly striking statue.You can see from the blue ribbon that a baby boy was born here recently. I rode past this property and stopped for the shot.And here’s a ribbon for a girl.Some shrines accumulate bouquets.Just before everything began to bloom, I took this photo of the central market in Viareggio. All the trees here are pruned drastically over winter. These almost look scary.The view I see every time I return home above Ruosina. That’s Monte Altissimo in the background. Sometimes the light falls on it in just a certain way and it looks like a citadel on the top.Tomorrow I’m off to London. Will post from there…