October 10, 2024
Flirtations with Funghi
Girifalco to Serra San Bruno
Dinner was interesting affair last night. Our host drove Rob, myself and the English couple three kilometres up the road to a standalone restaurant. Along with the three Italians we were the only ones there. Dinner and breakfast was part of our room rate so I’m pretty sure this place was part of the family empire.
The waiter explained the set menu to us in fluent Italian with seemingly every second word being funghi. That made sense as it’s peak mushroom season and I love mushrooms so bring it on. I’m starving! What I wasn’t expecting was 6 courses of mushroom dishes. We started with a funghi carpaccio, followed in quick succession with fritta da Bosca mista (dried fruits of the forest) grilled funghi, bruschetta with funghi and then a potato and mushroom stew. All delicious and quite different. I ate miles too much but I just couldn’t help myself. And then the pasta with funghi came out. It was so good. Even though there was not mush room left in my stomach I had to have a decent serve of the pleasant tagliatelle al dente.
Having eaten the equivalent of a years worth of mushrooms in one sitting I got what I deserved; a crappy nights sleep with a severely bloated gut. Will I ever learn?
An uninspiring breakfast that was carefully rationed for the 7 houseguests was of no concern to me. I had enough carbs to power me for the next two days without eating anything. We wanted to leave by 8.30 as the first hour was straight uphill. It was territory we had already covered last night as the restaurant was near the summit. It was steep with some sections up to 14% so best tackled first thing rather than in the dead of night as we did on our first day.
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We got away at a reasonable time and had perfect conditions for climbing; cool and still and little traffic. After a little more than hour we reached the park of Monte Covello where the water has a very low mineral content and is much sought after. We refilled our bottles after a couple of ladies filled a few crates worth.
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After a flattish section through the forest it was a screaming downhill until we hit the valley floor, passing through some smallish towns before starting a long slow climb to our destination of Serra san Bruno. We took the guide books advice and veered slightly off route to Cardinale, a small village famous for its hazelnut gelato but nothing was open and the best the only bar open could offer me was an Italian version of a paddlepop. That’s some sort of compromise.
My successful last two days of navigation evaporated today. I forgot to download the map onto my device so had to use the map on my phone. That was frustrating as I was stopping all the time and there were so many tiny wiggly roads we took. Rob was particularly patient after my semi meltdown earlier in the week. We took several wrong turns but they never led us too far astray as I was determined to keep rechecking before we’d ridden too far.
The final push to Serra san Bruno took an age. It was hot and humid and we were both feeling it by the time we rolled into the centre of town. As I was about to check the address we saw the Italian riders from last night who were staying at the me place as us which was exactly where I’d stopped. The only high point of today’s navigational effort.
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Serra san Bruno is a very old and historic town. Our host clearly loves the place but spent a good 20 minutes using google translate to give us a potted history when all I wanted was a shower.
We wandered around the centre as night fell, poked our heads in a few churches and had a simple marinara pizza after the funghi frenzy of last night. It’s an early night tonight as we’re both stuffed!
Today's ride: 47 km (29 miles)
Total: 508 km (315 miles)
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| Comment on this entry | Comment | 2 |
i feel you missed "i'm a real fun guy" joke opportunity though
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