We turned in for the night basically as soon as it was dark last night, in part because of my imposed “boar curfew” since dusk was when they showed up last time we free camped. It was a bit irrational since the brush was so thick we could barely move around and there were no […]
With our second week on the road now under our belts, I finally feel like the overwhelming stress of cycle touring is wearing off a bit. Looking back to our first week, I can now see how jet lagged we must have been. We literally fell asleep every time we sat down and would nap […]
Ever since Bree and I began the planning stages for this trip last fall, we began coming up with things we wanted to do while in the various countries. On my bucket list was to get my hair cut by an Italian barber. Not just a guy who cuts hair, but a true barber (not […]
Ben: In our preparations for today’s ride into Tuscany, we failed to realize one very important thing – in order for us to get into Italy’s artistic heartland, we had to climb over a mountain, after which there were only “rolling hills”. We began our climb with the sounds of rifle shots and the pinging […]
Feeling majorly better this morning, we packed up early to get on the road. Our tent neighbors who had largely ignored us for the past two days finally got curious enough to come ask about our bikes and where on earth we were going with them. They were from Holland, on holiday in Italy for […]
Bree: I woke up just after dawn, as usual (since we usually go to bed by 9 or 10) and sat up to begin packing up camp for our ride toward Pisa. Instead, I was met with an overwhelming dizzy sensation. I put my head between my knees and when it didn’t fade, I laid […]
Bree: Today we packed up from our lovely Levanto camp to get back on the road. Our departure did not go unnoticed by our French neighbors who had been enthralled with our heavy bikes. For the last three nights we’ve shared ridiculous attempts at conversation, her speaking in French, and us in English with a […]
Finally, a rest day. A REAL rest day. We didn’t pedal anywhere except into town (3 times because we are disorganized). I noticed my sore legs from hiking before I even crawled out of my sleeping bag and instantly felt glad to be staying put one more day. Plus, we had some pressing things to […]
One week. We have been at this one week. In all honesty, it has been probably the toughest week of my life. The logistics of a trip like this are mind boggling and the limited access we have found to internet/power have been a huge hinderence. We have pedaled a few hundred miles at this […]
After our long night in the “wild boar” camp, I was pretty anxious to wake up and get out of there before the herd of boars who had paraded our camp all night got a second chance at us. Ben assured me that they sleep during the day, but my imagination had been running away […]
Bree: Waking up in Camping Tocino, all I could hear was rain pouring down on the tent. We had discussed in depth whether to push through to Bobbio today, or whether to rest and at the rain, I quietly rolled over and waited to see if Ben would do the same. He made no effort […]
Bree: After the crazy day we had yesterday, I wasn’t exactly thrilled about the prospect of heading out of our cozy hotel his morning. I didn’t even really want to be awake due to the jet lag that I’m still fighting – the same jet lag which didn’t touch Ben a bit. Further, I could […]