Italy and Switzerland by bike in 2024

 WE left Radicofani on a wonderful 7 mile downhill route.  The day looked so promising.  We were heading into the heart of Tuscany and planned to see several sites where the film Gladiator was filmed. Unfortunately my route put us on some of the worst dirt/rock paths I've ever encountered.  After about 30 miles we rode across a farmers field and then encountered a hill that was almost vertical.  And this is as the day hit 97 degrees!! We stopped to talk with this couple from France, Babette and Francois.  They have their own Youtube channel that we will have to check out. Some really beautiful countryside. That's Montepulciano - we stopped there for lunch. Ugh.  The most painful hill ever. We essentially gave up on seeing the Gladiator sites but did manage to get this shot of the Gladiator House. Our hostel in San Querico D'Orcia

 We left bright and early (since the nuns serve breakfast at 6am!!) at a pleasant 65 degrees.  That is Montefiascone as we left in the morning. Of course we passed many grape orchards and olive trees - but today we also rode through several sunflower fields.  Most of the day went pretty well.  Some hills sprinkled in just to keep us honest.  Ahead in the distance we could see our next hilltop town, Radicofani. That is Radicofani up on the hill. This is Mark form Belgium.  We talked about our riding in Italy. The final 8 miles were uphill and took quite a while in the mid day heat.  But we made it and Radicofani was just a beautiful village.  We checked into our pilgrim's hostel and we were the only 2 people there. Our hostel.  An old school building. Our lunch stop in Radicofani.  We had porchetta and pecorino sandwiches. Very pretty town.  Very clean. And finally a wonderful dinner. Of course, the big benefit of riding up to a hill...

 After breakfast we tried to get a bus (that was listed on the bus app) at 8am to take us to Bagnoregio but the driver said he wasn't going there.  Then we tried a different bus at 9:30 that the Tourist Information person said would take us, but that driver also said he wasn't going that way.  So Brian convinced me to ride our bikes there.  It was only 10 miles in each direction but I really wanted a rest day before tackling more hills in the next few days. Anyway - off we went - and we were glad we made the trip.  Civita di Bagnoregio is really a site to see.  It was founded more than 2500 years ago but because of erosion and collapse of the peripheral city walls, it is now known as "The Dying City".  Only 16 -20 people live there full time.  The rest of the place is occupied by cafe's, restaurants, and B&B's.   A very interesting place to see. Also, this is a picture of Lake Bolsena taken from the town of Montefiascone, where ...

  I was a little worried about today since it had over 1500 feet more climbing than yesterday.  We hit the road about 7:30 and immediately started climbing. The path soon turned to a narrow, rocky uphill mess we had to walk the bikes through. We had other dirt roads today but none as bad as that early one.   Rows and rows of Hazelnut trees By 9:00 we had to stop at a store and refill our water bottles.  We were working going up all those hills.  The last 5 miles to Montefiascone were straight uphill.  Montefiascone up on the hill.  That's where we are staying for 2 nights. We made it to our Pilgrim's Hostel - which is at the Monastery Benedettine San Pietro - around 3pm.  A nice nun who only spoke a few words of English checked us in.  After showering we walked around a bit and bought bus tickets for the following day to Civita di Bagnoregio.  That should be a site to see.  Then we had dinner at the monastery.  The nuns br...

A quick shout out to Rome.  We had a great time there and I was impressed with how clean the city center was..Last time Sue and I were there I was taken aback by the amount of trash all over the place.  But this time things looked much better.  Also trains, buses, and trams are now much easier to use since they started using a Tap and Go system with your credit card.  The machine will automatically charge you the minimum fare so you don't need to figure out which ticket to buy.  And lastly, there is free water all over Rome, dispensed by Nasoni.  The water tastes great and is usually fairly cold.  We even found dispensers around the Colosseum which dispensed refrigerated flat water and naturally carbonated water for free.  That was really great on a hot day. This turned out to be a rough day.  We left our hotel and had to go about 11 miles to get back on our route close to the Vatican.  On the way there we were crossing a very busy inter...

 Woke up at 5:30am to our first light rain of the trip.  Got on the Metro at 6:30am for a ride to St. Peter's Basilica.  We wanted to get there early before the line got too long - and we were just in time.  We waited about 20 minutes to get in but by the time we entered the line was at least 3 times longer than when we started!!  Of course the Basilica is amazing, considered the largest church in the world.  It was designed to make a statement and send a message - and it accomplished both.  The place is enormous and beautiful.  Unfortunately the main alter was completely covered for refurbishing, as was Michelangelo's La Pieta. The Swiss Guard A dome in one transept The central nave of the Basilica.  It is 624 feet long and 150 feet tall. A dome in another transept. Michelangelo's famous dome The Holy Door which only opens once every 25 years.  Next opening in 2025. 2025 is the Jubilee Year - a Holy Year for Rome and the Catholic church...

 June 22 was a short riding day, only 35 miles, but still took a while.  After breakfast we were the Via Appia Antica Roman road for about 15 miles.  This road, still the longest straight road in Europe, was completed in 312 BC!!  Many of the original basalt stones are still in place and tracks from the chariots can be seen worn into the stones. Here you can see Chariot tracks in the basalt rock road. Then we visited Aqueduct Park where many of the original aqueducts supplying ancient Rome are still standing. From there we entered the city through the Porta San Sebastiano, one of the largest remaining gates in Rome's fortress walls. We had lunch at the Testaccio Market at a place called Casa Manco.  It reminded us of our favorite pizza place at Cape May, NJ called Manco and Manco. Some other sites from the day are below. The Pantheon Trevi Fountain Victor Emmanuel monument June 23 Today we took the metro from our hotel into Rome.  First stop was the Pantheo...