Today, as we get ready for our day, it occurs to us that this has been a trip of firsts. We are travelling without our camping gear (never before!), Seavo has been "electrified", we have finally made it to Slovenia and Poland (both long on our bucket list) and we are relying on hotels and guesthouses every day. And it has all been good. We love our e-bike and the extra push it gives us against headwinds and up hills. But the biggest surprise has come from not camping. We love to camp and will never stop camping. The obvious benefit of not hauling our camping gear is the lighter load on our bike and the comfort we enjoy in guesthouses, especially in bad weather. We have found that staying in locally run small places has given us an insight in to the lives of locals and a connection that we sometimes miss when we are more independent and insular in our tent. We have always felt that the ideal trip has a balance of the two. But because of the challenges that we have faced on this trip, staying in guesthouses has been a very good thing. Now, back to today....once again, our choice of hotel has enriched our day. Several generations have owned and managed Hotel Pittis in this small village. They gave us an extra large room with a foyer and large bathroom (including a big tub - the first of the trip!) Fernando Pittis, the youngest generation of his family, is now managing reception and bookings. We enjoyed talking to him and he shared much of the history of the hotel and the village. The ride today, is truly where the magic of the Alpe Adria route begins. We are on the former railway that winds its way through the Alps, through tunnels and over trestles. The beauty of the mountains, waterfalls and villages is stunning. We are climbing all day, but the gradient is very gentle. As usual, we are the only cyclists going in our direction. We are met periodically, by groups of cyclists with very little gear, whom we have dubbed affectionately as the "bus people".
The weather deteriorated and got colder with heavy rain as the day wore on. The place where we are staying is across the river in a wee village called Racculana (across from the slightly larger village of Chiusaforte). It wasn't quite what we expected as we were left to our own devices in a rowhouse that has a shared bathroom and kitchen for the guests. We were glad that we were the only guests staying here as it could be awkward. As well, we were annoyed that it is advertised as being bike friendly, but we were refused the use of the garage. We had to park it outside under the eaves in the wind and rain. If we hadn't prebooked, we would have moved on, but we were stuck and the weather was bad. There was no heat in the building and we had a cold night. Not knowing the area, we felt a bit trapped, but we sought out the Bar/Pizzeria across the river in Chiusaforte and that was the highlight of our stay. What a great place, full of locals and the best pizza of the trip. It was work the wet walk across the river.
In 1976, virtually the entire town of Osoppo was destroyed by a 9.5 earthquake. This photo shows the devastation. One hundred people were killed in Osoppo, including ten guests in this hotel and the owner of the hotel (grandfather of Fernando and father of Paolo). We are amazed at the resilience and spirit of these people who pick themselves up and start all over again
Cats are very popular here - this one was sizing me up from his perch atop a stone wall. It's probably thinking, oh yeah, another funny looking human with a helmet on a strange bike.
Lunch in the square in Venzone. We lost our Canadian flag earlier in Slovenia on a windy day. We were glad that Barry was wearing his Canadian jersey as it broke the ice with some locals and a family from Canada as well.
We went in to a Latteria in Venzone to get lunch. We chose local cheese and meat which she made up in fresh buns. The cheese was delicious and very cheap.
A map showing Venzone to Villach (in Austria). It is great to follow a former railway at times, as we are able to ascend gradually on this section to Tarvisio.
Moggio - one of the many picturesque villages alongside the route. We marvel at the position of these villages in the valley with towering cliffs overhead. The winters here must be beautiful and challenging.
This tunnel was almost a kilometre long. We like the reflective strip on the sides which help you keep a good line as well as the motion activated lights.
This section of the route is simply magical. Countless tunnels, excellent surface for riding and unbelievable scenery. A tip: the route after Carnie is newly created and provides a wonderful dedicated bike path (formerly - and on the GPS track, you had to ride on the main road, SS13 to Resuitta).
This tour group is from the Netherlands. This is our typical day on this route - everyone is riding from Salzburg to Grado - and as usual, the Bartlett's are going in the opposite way. We see a few other fully loaded cyclists, but most are like this group who are supported by a bus with a van for their bikes and they convene nightly at a prebooked hotel. These are the "bus people".
After collecting all of their ropes, the last thing to do was to jump in the pool. They were well dresssed for it, but watching from the trail in the rain, it looked so cold.
The view from the balcony of our guesthouse,"Dal Mimmi", across the river from Chiusaforte. We are the only ones staying at the guesthouse and we have the house to ourselves.
As we found on our last cycling trip to Italy, villages Bars are truly the hub of the community. Despite it being a cold, windy, wet night, the place was hopping with locals - on one side were the regulars who come in for a coffee, wine, beer and a visit - and on the other side were the people eating. At the end was a master pizza chef who twirled pizza dough on one finger, creating thin yummy crusts in the wood fire pizza oven. Conversations are as one in a bar - everybody contributes from all sides of the room. As we ate, many locals came in and joined in on the conversation and waited to take home, usually about 5 pizzas. What a great time we had and an insight in to village life.
There are only a couple of places to eat in Chiusaforte. We chose the local Bar/Pizzeria/Ristorante and had a couple of amazing pizzas. This is their Special House pizza laden with roast veggies (eggplant, zucchini), artichokes, olives, many kinds of meat, etc. Wow
The Verdura (veggie) pizza was the best of our time in Italy - roast veggies, sweet onions....We shared a half litre of the house wine, directly from the tap- and very good. We will miss Italy.
