The beach

Italians love the beach (who doesnt). Italy doesnt have enough beaches for their own citizens, as evidenced in the picture of a beach near Rome. That is why Croatia is a very popular destination. There are many Italians who like to go to Croatia to get away. Croatia has endless beaches, but it is no longer the unknown place that it was. Prices are slightly cheaper than Italy, but not significantly. The trip has been tough on our wallets, but we knew that going in. Hotels are the big expense. In Italy they budget accomodation is usually $100 US. Coming back through Italy to Rome we camped more frequently. This reduced our expenses significantly. It is still relative, because camping was $35-$45 US/Night for us. Camping, a few times, was the same price as hostel accomodation. Turkey was the cheapest country we visited with Bosnia a close second. Montenegro was next cheapest followed by Croatia. Greece was slightly more expensive than Croatia and Italy was the most expensive. The north of Italy tends to be more expensive than the less wealthy south.

Day 86: Lido di Tarquinia to Aranova - 45 miles

We are definitely on the home stretch now. Some thoughts on the trip. It has been tough for both of us. The terrain has been tough and we have been caught with intense heat and intense rain. There have also been times that road conditions were awful, not from gravel roads, but long distances with rough cobblestones. Despite some hard times, the trip has also been very enjoyable as we havent biked everyday. We have stopped to see a lot of things and have relaxed adjacent to many a beach and many a pool. During the hot temperatures we found it essential to get next to a body of water after a long hot ride. For me (Brady) the trip has been hard at times, but most of the time I wasnt allowed to show that I was tired as I was supposed to be the responsible one. Sarah had some tough times that she will talk about later. In her words: on some days she lost the battle with the road. She was able to overcome these difficult times to be refreshed on the next day, motivated to continue. So much so that she is the one that could go on from Rome for another month without flinching. I, on the other hand, am excited for the easy living back home (the grass is always greener approach). I have visions of the great things back home: family, friends, favorite restaurants, TV, movies in english, the english language, a clothes dresser that stays in the same place, a washer/dryer, cell phone, internet all the time, and a home.

Day 85: Pitigliano to Lido di Tarquinia - 55 miles

Sarah is feeling better. We got out of Tuscany and into some easier riding. It has been very hot and I dream of water all day long. Swimming in it, dunking my head in it, drinking it. Pic 1 - Fashionable new xmas trees?

Day 84: Castel Di Piano to Pitigliano - 34 miles

June 27th. Southern Tuscany. Pitigliano is a breathtaking city once a jewish settlement, but that is a different story. It was built on top of a volcanic rock outcropping with cliffs on three sides. The town is very charming. Small alleyways appear to drop off to the jungle below and the distant hills. The view can be captured from everywhere with narrow passageways giving a peak of the great view in every direction. Pic 1 - Pitigliano from a distance. Pic 2 - Sarah enjoying the view. Pic 3 - Storefront decoration. Pic 4 - Pitigliano from a distance.

Day 83: Montalcino to Castel di Piano - 20 miles

Sarah is starting to feel not so good and a little sick so we are taking it easy. Twenty miles isnt even that easy in Tuscany where the hills are well known.

Pic 1 - The beautiful Abbey of St Antimo where the monks chant similar to that of St Marks in Seattle.

Day 82: Siena to Montalcino - 43.5 miles

We rode through some classic Tuscany scenery today. It is called "La Crete" and it is very beautiful with the tall skinny cypress trees mixed in with the yellows and reds. Montalcino is famous for its wine, The Brunello Di Montalcino. America loves the wine as it takes 25% of the exports. It is an expensive bottle. Today though it is as well known for scandal than for quality. Today America threatened to block all imports of Brunello because producers were accused of using other grapes in the wine.

Day 80, 81: Siena

Relaxing at our farmstay.

Day 79: Siena

Florence or Siena. Everyone has a preference. These two Tuscan cities have fought for centuries. Mostly over regional dominance and art. Today they have a different feel. Pic 1 - The red brick buildings of Medieval Gothic Siena and old streets.Pic 2 - Inside the beautiful cathedral of Siena.

Day 78: Marcialla to Siena - 29.5 miles

Pic 1 - The vineyards in Marcialla in the Chianti region of Tuscany. Pic 2 - Riding through vineyards and olive groves near Castellina In Chianti. We have arrived in Siena. We are doing a farmstay for a couple of days.

Day 77: Florence to Marcialla - 25 miles

June 20th. Pic 1 - Another view shot of the Duomo from Piazza Michelangelo. Pic 2 - The Pieta by Michelangelo. This is a statue of christ being lifted up after death. This is usually with Nicodermus (top center), but Michelangelo put his own features in. This was to go on Michelangelos tomb, but there was a mistake made and Michelangelo left it unfinished and broke the arm off (later repaired).

Day 76: Florence - 0 miles

Pic 1 - Cycling friends from Holland and Belgium. Nikkolaus on the far right is doing a pilgrimage from Holland to Rome by Bike. Pic 2 - Sarahs dream car (that color or maybe yellow).

Day 75: Florence - 0 miles

We are taking a few days to rest in Florence. Pic 1 - The Duomo is massive and it is the third time that I have seen it, but it is visually striking every time. Pic 2 - The Florence bridges at sunset from Piazza Michelangelo. Sarah and I bought a bottle of wine and a pizza and enjoyed it on the steps overlooking the city.

Day 74: Passo de Futa to Florence - 29.5 miles

Pic 1 - We have entered Tuscany. Pic 2 - Us on the road with our first view of Florence.

Day 73: Bologna to Passo de Futo - 44 miles

We entered the hills and mountains again as we climbed to 3000 feet today. Not mentioned yesterday was the fact that Sarah had her 5th fall of the trip, which was my fault as I stopped quickly in front of her. She hit my wheel and went over the curb into some grass. She has forgiven me and she seems to be fine. Pic 1 - Countryside as we enter the hills into Tuscany. Pic 2 - Sarah lugging her bike up into the clouds.

Day 72: Ferrara to Bologna - 43 miles

We left the city of cyclists. Not that Bologna is so different. The terrain is still flat. Bologna is a lively town with a large student population. It is famous for the food as many are aware of. It also has the oldest university in the western world (founded in 1088). Presently there are 100,000 students. Pic 1 - The two leaning towers in Bologna. Pic 2 - Sarah excited that she finally found happy hour in Italy (Apertivo)

Day 71: Day to Visit Ravenna - 0 miles

Ravenna is home to some of the most beautiful mosaics. Both pictures are of the stunning Basilica San Vitale. Striking gold, blue, and red in great contrast. the muted windows bring out the splendor in these mosaics.

Day 70: Ferrara - 0 miles

Pic 1 - old men discussing the pros and cons of single gear bikes. Pic 2 - Medieval Ferrara from the castle that defines the city. Pic 3,4 - The sea of bikes at the train station.

Day 69: Arqua Polesine to Ferrara - 18 miles

Our ill fortune is old news. We have just entered the cycling capital of Italy. Ferrara is our kind of place. South of Venice and north of Bologna. We are spending three nights here as we can finally blend in. We have seen people on the phone biking, with child in rear and front biking, with cigarette biking, old people biking, and women in heels biking. Everyone here bikes. That is the way it is. Ferrara is completely flat. That helps. Pic 1,2,3 - bikes in Ferrara

Day 68: Mira to Arqua Polesine - 58 miles

Rough day for the Gus clan. Passing through Padova we were checking internet. The place had large clear windows. Our bikes were outside leaning agains the window. In our concentrated internet usage we didnt look to our right to see a man grab one of Sarahs front bags and run down the street. We noticed when we left the internet cafe 20 minutes later. The police came and didnt do anything except tell us that the area was bad. We sat around looking for answers and three men came up to us telling us they saw the person that stole our bag. They led us to a bush a couple of blocks away. A lot of the stuff in the bag was strewn all over the place. Sarah spent the next half hour on a scavenger hunt. She found half the things in her back. In reality there was nothing to sell in the bag of any value, but Sarah will never wear her white and black glasses or green jacket again. The story does not end there. Later in the day I managed to leave his wallet at a gas station, which included $300 US, credit card, and drivers license. The next morning I took the train up to the approximate location of the gas station with my bicycle. It didnt take too long to find it. I was hoping our luck would be better this time. I crossed my fingers. I went in and the same barista was there. She was happy to see me because she found my wallet. She gave it to me. It felt thin. It was thin. It had my drivers license and credit card only. She said she found it in the garbage when she got off shift. That is the end of the story. Rough day. Pic 1 - Sarah contemplating jumping in the river to possibly find her glasses. Pic 2 - lighting striking that night in Polesine.

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Day 67: Day to visit Venice - 0 miles

Despite the hordes of tourists, Venice is a special city and there is no other place like it. It is sinking, but I am sure that will be fixed. Back in the day the water canals provided

a great method of transport, probably better than any other. The invention of the automobile set the place back a couple notches. These days the backstreets of Venice are a great place to unwind.

Day 66: Trieste to Mira - 101 miles

June 9th. Mira is just outside of Venice. This was really the only flat area of the entire trip. So we decided to get up early and let our wheels roll. We were able to hit the century mark for the first time on the trip.

Pic 1 - Sarah and Brady in Venice

Day 65: Ilirska, Slovenia to Trieste, Italy - 37.5 miles

Slovenia came and went. We would have liked to spend more time here, but it is a small country that often gets confused for its neighbors. This day was highlighted by the biggest cave I have ever been in. Skocjan is the name. If you can pronounce it I will give you $10. The two pictures are not mine as they didnt allow pictures inside the caves, but I wanted to

give some idea to the size of the cave and the beauty of the river. Apparently there are two to three other caves in the region that are equally spectacular.

Day 64: Rijeka to Ilirska Bistrica, Slovenia - 25 miles

Said goodbye to Croatia. We will miss the accommodation options, the clear water to swim in, and the cute villages. We will be glad to be able to return to Italian cuisine pretty soon and hopefully will get into some less touristy areas as the Croatian coast is very popular. Slovenia is a great change of pace. Quiet, very green, and charming people. In front of our pension is a local dog show. Pic 1 - Slovenian countryside.

Day 63: Sveti Juraj to Rijeka, Croatia - 48 miles

Pic 1 - View from the coastal road enroute to Rijeka, the most northerly big city in coastal Croatia. Pic 2 - View from our apartment in Rijeka. Pic 3 - Rijeka window coverings.

Day 62: Pag to Sveti Juraj - 47 miles

Pic 1 - The town of Pag. Pic 2 - Sarah cresting the high point of the island before the ferry back to the mainland of Croatia.

Day 61 Sukasan to Pag - 41 miles

Pic 1 - An option of a right turn at an intersection midway through the day. Pic 2 - The other option for a turn at an intersection midway through the day. We chose to go left and leave the rain for a little while. Pic 3 - The moonscape of the island of Pag, Croatia.