Rome and arrivederci Italia (14th - 23rd Oct 07)

We arrived in Rome on a quiet sunday afternoon and rode through suprisingly quiet roads to our campsite about 15km from the centre. Camping Flaminio was our first 4 star campsite in Europe and it was more like a village - it took about 15 mins to walk from one side to the other. After three months of sleeping in a tent we decided to get a basic cabin which was only 2 euros more than camping. This turned out to be a godsend as the next day the temperature dropped to 4 degrees and didnt get above 12 for the whole week. Winter hit and it hit quick.

Rugged up at the Roman Forum


Besides sending our bikes home (which took up lots of time) we had plenty of sights to see. We did all the usual sights, the Vatican, Roman Forum, Spanish steps, Sistine Chapel, etc. Our favourite sight was probably the map room in the Vatican, with huge maps painted on the wall of a long barrel vaulted gallery. Besides the 1000 other tourists we were rubbing shoulders with it was an amazing room. The Sistine Chapel was of course, pretty impressive.

Sistine Chapel- A photo doesnt quite do it justice


Rome overall had a great feel to it. While there were lots of tourists with maps, the local people were very welcoming. It was nice just wandering the streets and people watching. Loved Rome and will definately be back.

The Roman Forum


As it was our last week in Italy we tried to stuff ourselves with all the Italian food we could. Definately very sad saying good bye to pizza, foccaccia, cheap fantastic coffee, and all the local produce.

After our bikes went home to NZ, we brought two small backpacks and set off to the east coast of Italy via overnight train to catch a ferry to Greece. It was a teary goodbye to one of our favourite countries, which we ended up staying for 2 months all up. But exciting destinations of Greece and Turkey await...

"No more packages to NZ!!" Sending the bikes home...

So we have made the bold decision to send our bicycles home. The coldness of winter is starting to grip us in Italy which means cycling was starting to not look as fun. We also are heading to Greece, Turkey then India so we dont have the time to cycle around anymore (as we only have two weeks each in Greece and Turkey). So we were toying with either selling the bikes here in Italy or sending them home.

After some heated debates and reflecting on our travels we could not bear to sell the bikes. So next we had to try and ship them home. This proved to be difficult, as companies do not ship small items (ie. bike boxes) to NZ. Well they do, but at a heafty price of 1000euros on a plane. So we started researching the Italian Post System. So far we have sent our packs home via post from Vietnam and numerous other packages around the world and it has worked out fine. Our problem here was that the size of the bikes was over the allowable limit (of 1m max dimension). So Nat utilised all her mathematical prowess and solved some complex trig functions to arrange the bikes in boxes that were under the limit. We ended up taking the forks, handlebars, seats, pedals and wheels of the bikes and putting these in seperate boxes. We also had to send all our gear home, like our panniers, racks and cycling clothes (which are worth more than the bikes!!). So after modifying countless boxes, we came up with 2 large boxes with the bikes and 2 smaller ones with the gear.

Because they were so bulky we had to take them to the post office from our campsite on the outskirts of Rome on the metro on different days. The guys at the post office were in hysterics the second day we arrived with a big box to NZ, but by the fourth day and box they were laughing saying "no more packages to NZ". But it turned out very cheap to send them and fingers crossed the kids arrive safe for we have many places we want to cycle back in NZ.

Pizza & Pompeii (8th - 14th Oct 07)

We based ourselves in the town of Sorrento which across the Bay of Naples. We had a great camp spot amidst olive trees and views across the water of Mt Vesuvius and Naples. From here we could explore the sites of Pompeii, and do day trips into Naples for Pizza.

The view from our campsite


In Naples we met up with Nats friend Zara for a few days. Naples is famous for chaos, crime, fantastic museums, but most importantly - the birthplace of Pizza. So we definately could not miss it. The classic Margherita (Mozzerela & Tomat) or the Marinara (Oregano & Tomato) were served on a thicker base than the Rome equivalents - delicious. In Naples there are strict guidelines to Pizza making, with the Mozzerela for example, being only of the Buffalo variety.

We spent a full day in Pompeii - the Roman town that was buried under metres of ash when Mt Vesuvis erupted in AD79. This preserved every element of the society which was fantastic to observed the dynamics of an ancient civilisation so similar to the modern day. Areas that we found particularly interested were the Bakeries (with ovens like the modern day pizza oven), the Mansions of the wealthy, and of course the casts of the bodies of the victims. The brothel was interesting with frescos on the wall of various sexual positions, as if the customer could choose from a menu his preference. The society did not have the current day prudish attitude towards sexual issues, with sexual mosaics in various homes of the wealthy.

One option at the Brothel


The Bakery

The Dramatic Coastline of Amalfi (5th - 8th Oct 07)

After cycling the fantastic Cinque Terra, we were in the mood for some more stunning Italian coastlines. And what was more famous than the twist and bends of the Amalfi coast. This part of Italy lies just south of Naples, in the central west coast. The villages here are more for the rich and famous, but this is when cycling is at is best, as we can cycle on through without paying exorberant prices.

The Fantastic Riding


We wanted to make the most of our time on the Amalfi, so despite it being only a 80km ride, we broke it up over two days. So we spent a night camping on the only camp ground on the Amalfi, which of course came with a price. As the owner said in a thick Italian accent, 'expensive yes, but you get what you pay for'. It was well worth it as we were on a whole terrace to ourselves within metres of the plunge down to the sea.

Camping on the edge


This was stunning until a massive thunder storm hit that evening. It felt like the lightening was striking metres from our tent. And then off course there was the very heavy rain, which flooded down the terraces onto our lower site. This was the one time our sturdy macpac tent wasnt quite so waterproof. But we survived the night with more fantastic riding the next day when the rain eased.

Nick riding the Amalfi

La Dolce Vita (29th Sept - 4th Oct 07)

We have been living 'la dolce vita' or the sweet life for the past week in Sicily. After leaving Pisa we managed to work our way down to Sicily by catching no less than 5 trains!! Nat used her extensive research and wrote some complicated mathematical equations to search the Italian Train Timetables to find us regional trains that are the only ones that take bicycles. But we managed to get to Sicily for much cheaper than the direct trains!

We had to catch a car ferry to Sicily, which cost all of €1, our cheapest transport to date. Arriving in Messina, the port town was more akin to arriving in an Asian city. It was complete chaos. We were dodging scooters and being passed by cars two abreast. We even rode past a few people on horse and carts. It is totally different to the north of Italy.

Leaving Messina, we rode south along the east coast to stop in a small village called San Alessi. We pitched our tent 5m from the sea and looked around amazed that we were sharing the campsite with only a few other people. Bliss..

We were even more impressed when the groundskeeper gave us a table and chairs to sit at...this is southern hospitality at its best. Table and chairs are like obtaining the holy grail when we have been hunching on our Malaysian mat for 3 months!

So we enjoyed meals overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, especially breakfast where we faced the sunrise. The little village became our second home, we shopped at the local produce shops with the old ladies. Nick rose at the crack of dawn to get fresh bread and biscotti to enjoy with fresh coffee at our.....table!!

Our campsite was sitting in the shadows of Mt Etna, Europes largest active volcano, so we took the opportunity to ride around her slopes. We took off expecting to climb the 1900m to the summit but unfortunately cloud came in and restricted our view so we couldnt make it to the top.

Sicilian Switchbacks


We ended up staying for a week before venturing back to the mainland. This time we did it in style with a passenger ferry direct to Salerno (near Naples). We were part of only about 20 passengers on this huge boat. The rest was made up of trucks and truck drivers. But suprisingly the boat was newly rennovated and was like having a cruise liner to ourselves!!

Now we are cycling to the Amalfi coast and onto Naples.

The Cinque Terre in Cinque Days (21-28 September 07)

After spending few days in Genova it was time to move on. The city is the home of pesto, and after having fresh pesto with gnocci, pesto on foccacia and pesto panini we have become pesto experts. Hmmm, this one has too much basil, not enough olive oil etc. But they take their pesto seriously, and you can even buy fresh stuff from vending on the street side, if you ever need a midnight pesto hit!!

We rode for 5 days from Genova to Pisa and we both agree it is 'the best' riding we have had for the whole trip!! The road hugged the coast providing spectacular views and then it would become narrow and wind through tiny villages. It was quite challenging with some big climbs and it was extremely popular with recreational road cyclists who would often yell 'vai vai vai' (go, go, go) when they past us on the big climbs.

We would often come across names of italian cyclists painted on the road, indicating we were riding on a stage of the Giro d'Italia or the tour of italy. So we thought we picked our roads pretty well.

Nick taking a breather on a coastal hill climb

Nat powering near the top of a 14km climb

The highlight of the ride was the day we rode through the Cinque Terre (lit means five earths) which is a group of five villages on the NW Italian Coast. They are all remarkably placed in small narrow valleys on the rugged coastline and are a huge tourist draw card. Most people ferry between them, but we of course we took on the road. Only residence cars and of course bicycles can get down to them as the main road stays high up on the cliffs. We choose to descend the 500m to one of the villages which was packed with american tourists, who would often point at our Trek bikes saying, 'look honey, they ride treks like lance armstrong..' which made us cringe.

On the way back up to the main road from the village we hit a road which was at the best laughable. It was a 3km climb, and we ascended 400m which is an average of 13% gradient. Some parts were well over 20% gradient, which is ridiculous to try and ride let alone with panniers and 40kg of gear. But we struggled our way up, resting every 100m. We were in our lowest gears, out of our seats and putting as much weight on the pedals just to get moving.

After riding the rugged coastline for 3 days, we had 2 days on the flat to rest the legs.

We had already been to Pisa so we stayed only overnight, then the following day jumped on trains to get us down to Sicily. Nat did some fantastic research to find us all the train connections that we could take our bikes on. But 2 days and 5 trains and one ferry later we were on Sicily.

Finding campgrounds in Italy is no problem, they are everywhere and we have a great map with their locations but we are now encountering the problem that they are all closing because it is out of summer. We are often the only people their, but the plus is they are getting a lot cheaper.