August 9 Levanto to Viareggio 41K

Wow,what a day! Did I say I have had only 2 days of rain in 48 days. Blue skies again. Cycling through Cinque Terre turned out not be a good idea. Seeing Cinque Terre is a great idea. There are 5 seacoast villages snugged away in coves at the bottom of seaside mountains. From Levanto I climbed a steep 6K, then dropped a steep 4K to Monterosso al Mare, then climbed back out only to go up another steep 5K, ride along a ridge aways then drop 6K straight down to the sea, to Verzanno. The towns are a combination village/seaside resort with beaches, marinas, and bakeries. Did I say bakeries? On leaving Verzanno I spotted the train and decided that-s the best way to see Cinque Terre. So I got a ticket to Riamaggorie, the southernmost of the 5 towns. From there I trained to Viareggio.

August 10 Viareggio to Barberino Val D-Esel 146K / 90 Miles

A day to fulfill a dream. To lean on the leaning Tower of Pisa eating a slice of pizza. And I am now in Tuscany. And it is hot. The first 90K today was flat, but then 9K short of the hilltop town of Volterra the road went up. The last 4K being very steep. I walked around an hour and a half, ate some ice cream bars. Hey, it was really hot.

August 11 Barberino Val D/Esel to Florence / Firenze 43K

Italy-s roadsigns lack in detail. More later. It was up and down and quite a nice ride into such a big city. I realized my trip is a work of art and my plans a work of art in progress, pun intended. At 4.30 in the morning I catch the train to Trieste Italy, switching trains in Bologna and Venice. Only regional and inter/city trains take bikes. So you gotta make changes. Trieste is nery near the Slovenian border. Tomorrow night I plan to be in Koper Slovenia at a youth hostel.

P.S. Sorry about no photos. Again thwarted by a computer without the ability to upload photos. The hostel manager says they do not pay for the service. Whatever that means. As soon as I can I will upload photos.