We left just after eight this morning, apparently very late based on the amount of people that were already out and about. Everyone was out walking, running, biking or driving. Our theory that people would sleep in after last night’s festivities, was way off.  We haven’t seen this many people on a Sunday morning our entire trip and more bikers than we’ve seen since Amsterdam last year.

As soon as we left the Nice waterfront, we climbed around the point and dropped into the Nice harbor, packed with sailboats, yachts and a cruise ship already in port. The climbing continued the rest of the day in and out of harborsthat filled the coves. But it was the Alpsthat we skirted, and the small towns that gained our camera’s attention today.

We reached Monte Carlo, Monaco before ten, bringing back memories from our trip here 28 years ago.We ‘raced’ through town (pun intended); actually this principality, packed into the side of the Alps, is so small, it takes very little time to get through, even when you are taking your time.  The climbing began again on the way out of town.As is usually the case, the higher we climb, the better the view.The colorful towns were especially striking outlined by the mountains.At 11:30 we crossed the border into our final country of the trip.We saw even more bikersand the ride continued to be gorgeousthough the climbs tough, thank goodness we took a day off before this leg.Our destinationis a charming town, not a bit of which we remember.  Tried to find the jewelry store we bought our wedding bands in, but we were only armed with a memory, so it was for naught.  But the people watching was good.and plenty of other things to see.That’s it from our visit to San Remo.

Our first hour was on an old rail track  that they had cleaned up and paved for biking and walking.  We had front row seats to harbors, tree lined paths through towns and an occasional tunnel; one was a mile long.  But best of all, it was flat, well used by only bikes and foot traffic and simply divine.  You could almost see the train running along our path.Not having to compete with vehicle traffic, we were able to easily take more pictures. Our first swans this trip.The thought that today’s ride wasn’t going to be so bad as we easily pedaled and took in the sights, evaporated when the path ended abruptly and we immediately began to climb and the climbing was wicked but the downhills were great.The port of Imperia had pretty colored buildings and a real local feel, until you turned around and viewed the multi-million dollar yachts in the harbor.There were bell towers everywhere on today’s ride.Many interesting towns and beaches packed with people. Cars and bikesparked anywhere they could find a spot, some a mile plus away from any access to the beach.  Sometime before noon, the wind started swirling, but mostly in our face, creating the need to bike downhill (our only chance for a pedal break), but the views…..this lighthouse sat high enough on the hill we were climbing, it could probably been seen all the way to the boot.

Stopped for water and met Ruth from Switzerland and Anna from Italy, who invited us to stay with them, but we regrettably already had reservations in a town down the road, Grazie Ruth.

Though we’ve been climbing the foothills of these mountains, finally we got far enough away to get a good shot.  We picked our destination town simply because it fell within the mileage we wanted to do.  Had no idea it would offer so much. Quaint streetsand the Basilica Saint Nicollo; though the outside was totally covered up for renovation the inside was exquisite.Found a wonderful place for dinner, and as much as we enjoyed our shrimp pasta, the owners truly made it special; that and the Lemoncellio after dinner drink!

Passed the 2000 mile mark today; since it seems more like 4000 we’re heading to bed to rest.

We had a warm 80 degree start to the day and had to stop a few miles down (actually UP and around the mountain) the road to get connected to Italy (ie: Sim card for the ipad).  So we really didn’t start making forward progress until about 10 am…….blame it on the photos (Arch dedicated to Queen Margherita of Austria)plenty to see in the colorful town of  Finale Ligure, where we stopped.  The Basilica di Saint Giovanni was beautifulespecially inside, but there was a mass in progress, so only one photo was managed.

Though we rode the coast road, we had plenty of climbing 

and a few tunnels to navigate.We lost track of how many hills we climbed and tried to focus on the scenery.In Italy, bicycles are commonplace;you ride the roads like a car and thankfully are offered plenty of room and respect as a vehicle,the idea of it still seems strange to us, coming from a culture that does not respect the bicyclist on the road.

We went through colorful villages,with colorful characters, harbor towns,beach towns and cities with incredible architecture,some that were centuries old.

Some time after noon, we started to see the mountains in the distance that create the curve in the country.The afternoon was a blur of climbs and drops, beaches and mountains.  That was until we reached the edge of Genova around 2:30.

It took us two hours to get into the middle of the city, not because of any backtracks or U-turns; the city is just that big; nineteen miles of coastline, 94 square miles.

Some of the roads we navigated…..let’s just say we are glad we made it safely into the city.

Note to Self:  Avoid large cities.

The Vespa scooter was made popular by Italians, like bicycles to Amsterdam.  Miraculously, we found an incredible hotel in the middle of the city.  Hot, tired and thirsty, we ventured out for refreshment which was served with a tasty platter of food.   Our little cafe was in the middle of all the activity, Piazza de Ferrari, Great people watching.  These darling children asked to take my picture, so our agreement was that I could take theirs’.We did a little touring on our way to dinner, but it was late and tomorrow we will tour the city.

Okay, scratch the idea from yesterday to avoid large cities, just avoid biking into them.

Genova is a fabulous city and one of Europe’s largest on the Mediterranean Sea and the largest seaport in Italy.  Think we covered most of it today.  We’ll identify a few, but most of what we saw will be covered in the gallery below.

Doge’s Palace

Porta Soprana

Birthplace of Christopher Columbus.

The Palace of St. George

Cattedrale di San Lorenzo/St. Lawrence Cathedral (5th or 5th century)

The Church del Gesù originally built in the 6th century with a most incredible interior including at least two pieces by Peter Paul Rubens.

There were shops for the super high heels the girls wearand beautiful wedding dress shops, especially popular in Spain, just never took a picture and fabulous food everywhere.Still can’t get over what they serve you for an appetizer when you order a drink.Genova/Genoa is an incredible city, easy to see the sights “by foot” as they have direction signs everywhere.  Fun place, incredible food, great place to see.

Duckies enjoyed their rest and were really hesitant to leave this nice hotel, but we had to go.

The problem we see with this new direction, now that we’ve passed the knee of Italy, is that the prevailing summer winds will now be in our face.  Nevertheless, the wind was cool to the close to 80 degree temps we started in this morning along with the rest of the Genova commuters.

Still sights of see on the way out of the city and besides the immediate downhill from the hotel door, the climbing began right awayonly to drop to a boardwalk we enjoyed for a mile or two. Getting out of the city was much easier than getting in, but still as impressive.We climbed the beautiful green hillsand dropped back to the sea only to climband climb and climb then drop again.  We wove our way through small towns and narrow streets.It was in one such town we ran into Giovanni;could have talked for hours, but we were all on riding missions.

Seems odd to be mentioning snow with palm trees around, but guess it happens as we’ve seen this sign nummours times.  The ride today was spectacularly gorgeous,gruelingand ear-popping tough. Five hours out with less than four hours on the bike seat, but only 30 miles accomplished; it was a tough ride, but OH so beautiful.Though we’ll feel it tomorrow, wouldn’t have traded today’s ride.

Found a hotel in a two square block town, perfect after the hustle, bustle and noise of the big city.  A plate of grilled vegetablestwo bowls of pasta, bottle of wine and basket of bread and we were ready to turn in; tomorrow’s ride it supposed to be worse.  But on our short stroll back, the Wine & Jazz Festival (we’d seen posters for) was in full swing.  Of course it’s a small town, so full swing meant one table doing a “sparkling wine” tasting (not allowed to call in Champagne-it’s a French thing), so naturally we tried it.  The sommeliers were a lot of fun (especially enjoyed Maurizia) and the pours (in a very nice wine glass) very generous. Four glasses later, plus a glass of Grappa Millesimata (similar to cognac only made from grape pulp), we stumbled to bed.  The evening was cool, so opened the doors and were serenaded to sleep by the jazz musicians still playing.

A beautiful 75 degree morning with the ocean wind and intermittent clouds continuing to keep it cool.  We loaded our bikes on the flat sidewalk outside the hotel and that was the last flat spot we saw for hours, with the exception of the little side trip we mistakenly took through a nice little beach town. Once on track, the climbing began immediately, but this time it did not stop, no downhills, no coasting, just straight up. Though the clouds continued to offer partial shade and keep the temperatures below 80, we were still soaking wet from the struggle.  Saw very few cars, several bicyclists and even a mountain goat,

the only one feeling ‘right at home’.  It took us nearly three hours to climb the 14 miles to the Passo Bracco summit. The five mile downhill was just long enough to chill us and have our legs turn to jelly before the next climb began.  Luckily, it was up and down for the rest of the ride (never thought up/down would be a good thing).  We stopped for lunch on the side of the road near a small town that had been devastatingly affected by the landslides created by too much rain two or three years ago,

river walls were still being improved and bridges not quite finished.  As we were started to head out again, Matt from Australia, came speeding by to a quick stop.  He’d started a month ago in England and was biking Europe for the summer before heading back to his homeland.  He joined us for our remaining two hour ride into town as we traded stories. We continued to see washed out areas along the way and had a mile and a half sprint through a tunnel.   We couldn’t just part without having a beer or two, so we spent the next hour at a sidewalk cafe enjoying not sitting on a bike.

Matt was heading further south, we were heading to our hotel.  No touring of the town tonight, just too tired.  BUT, we were fortunate to find the most incredible local restaurant for dinner.  Caprese salad,Ravioli and a mixed grilled meat platter, which we devoured before we remembered to take a picture.  Hydrated with a carafe of wine.  Perfect ending to a wonderfully grueling day.

The threat of rain this morning, made the 72 degrees seem much warmer as the air was thick with humidity.

Thankfully, the clouds kept the temperatures below 80 for several hours which did not keep us from being soaking wet at every climb, but it helped.  As soon as we were out of town, we paralleled a most captivating yet intimidating Apennine mountain range. We knew at some point today we would have to turn towards it to get to our final destination and it did not seem to be going down in height.  In the meantime, we climbed rolling hills and enjoyed the picturesque roads.Today’s ride offered a choice in direction, so we headed towards the beach in hopes to have flatter ground to ride.  This is an incredibly popular bike route; never have we seen so many bikers (and it wasn’t even a Sunday).Hundreds of bikers, all offering encouraging waves and shouts.  We probably took as many pictures of them as we did of this mountain.In between the incredible looming mountain and farm fields we passed through an occasional small village

and one pretty harbor.Finally reached the beach road; even in the overcast skies people were heading to the beach at ten in the morning.The seaside towns all ran together, with the exception of an occasional bridge, it was hard to determine when one town began or ended.  The difference though, was there were no high-rise condos, apartments or hotels on the beach side, in fact, no building was more than two stories. Bicyclists of all kinds were riding the roads, so we fit right in (except for the large bags, of course).  But our nice flat road ended when we turned towards the hills about noon.The climb started slowly, then abruptly went to hairpin turnsand very slow climbing in hot sun.The ride down was beautiful (naturally) as the sun started to part the clouds.We came to a crossroads with conflicting signs, but were quickly rescued by Roberto.A half hour later we left the countryside and managed our way into Lucca.The old city is surrounded by a most impressive wall, which gives you a true feeling of stepping back in time as you walk through the gates and into the narrow streetsand small squares.The Duomo di Lucca (Cathedral St Martin) began in 1063, has a facade unlke any other we’ve seen,incredible detail.Next we found the Piazza Anfiteatroand enjoyed an afternoon salad as we watched the world go round, Italian style.  And since it was Saturday afternoon, there had to be a bride around somewherestrolled right by our table.  Wound our way back through the crowds to rest until for our next feeding.

Found a interesting local Tuscan restaurant where we enjoyed a most incredible bottle of Toscana wine, Saltimbocca and a pasta trilogy, finished with chilled Limoncello, a most delicious dinner.