Day 59: Udine to Grado

June 10, 2022

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The large number of cyclists who are on the Alpe Adria encourages us each day, as it makes us feel part of a larger community. The presence of so many cyclists can be seen out on the trail, but also daily in the bicycle garage of whatever place we are staying at. Here are half the bikes at today's place:

Good feelings abt our fellow cyclists are reinforced each day as we speak to them, both in the garage and on the trail. There is always an exchange about where we all came from and where we are going, and then heartfelt wishes for good luck and a pleasant ride. More or less, we know we will never see each other again, but those wishes are nonetheless sincere. There was a little more of this today than other days, making a strong Meaning of Life candidate. Watch for a lot of cyclists on the road and in the cafes, as we follow today's tour.

The track out of Udine went through the centre of town, giving us a last opportunity to have a look at it.

We first found some market vendors, and had another crack at buying just a few cherries. With Dodie at the helm, we managed to cut our purchase to about 3/4 kilo. I'm not saying the vendors are playing any games, but it does seem difficult to get them to sell just 1/2 kilo!

Our way then took us through the square with the Hercules statue, and we captured a few more images, including the guys that ring the bell on the hour, something that Scott wrote he remembers from 25 years ago.

The next bit worthy of a second look was the fruit coloured houses, and cluttered street scenes, worthy of a painting by Utrillo, or such.

A big omision yesterday was the mandatory peek inside the duomo. We fixed that today and were rewarded with the customary glorious marble statuary and ceiling paintings.

We reached the ancient gate of the city, and we soon out, not into the countryside at first, but in pleasant suburban spaces.

This gate is known as the Aquileia Gate, which figures as it's on the way to Aquileia. The gate is part of city walls that were begun in the 13th century!

The suburban, and later, farmland spaces were among the terrific highlights of today. Underlying it all, strange to say, was the all pervasive scent of jasmine. People here have gone absolutely nuts planting and cultivating the stuff. Together with so many other flowers and flowering shrubs and trees, the ride was nothing less than a meander through a garden wonderland. Even out in the croplands, flowers abound, and the crops themselves are doing wonderfully well. I tried to capture some of the stuff, without reference to whether our panel of experts has already identified a lot of it. Maybe some new angles will cause an updated ID?

Also new today was a tree with small orange fruits, that at first we thought might be kumquat. But no. It was very edible though. We were surprised to have our hostess ID it as medlar. We have medlar at home, but never considered it edible off the tree - it's just for jam. Anyway they are ripe here now - there is actually a tree just by our room here, dripping with fruit, in case anyone is into some jam making!

Although the scent in the air is surely mostly due to jasmine, I also noticed a slightly different scent under a big tree. I stopped to gather some flowers from it and ran them up to Dodie, but she did not pick up the scent. People differ about smell - some can barely smell at all (or not at all, as with our Joni) and others perceive it differently. For example, Dodie has an uncanny ability to suggest I need a shower, when clearly I am fine!

Finally on plants, is everyone still totally sure this is magnolia?

Directly on route was the unique town of Palmanova. Palmanova is a perfect example of a star type defensive city. It was built in the late 1500's by the Venetians, to defend against the Ottoman Turks. The design has nine points, slightly protruding into a moat, so the points can defend each other. I think the design is basically intact today, though the moat, the gates, and the perfectly centred square are the main things we were able to observe today.

To allow access through a gate there is a system of lights. Cars, bikes, pedestrians need to go in turn because there is only one lane.

Inside, at the exact centre, is an expansive square (actually, hexagon), with a duomo.

Inside the duomo, again, Baroque beauty. This time, though, a chance to see restorers at work.

Can't help but enjoy the fruit coloured buildings. In this photo also, see the cyclists in green shirts? They were a group of about eight, out of Germany. The shirts had their names on them, and Alpe Adria 2022 in the front. What fun.

We enjoyed sharing the experiences with all the cyclists. Here we have a nice cluster at one of the gelato places.

Our choice was called the Bronte. Pistachio ice cream and I think Nutella ice cream. The flavours and the nut pieces were real! The biscuit wall divides the interested parties. In one near border crisis, Dodie moved the biscuit, but in response to a diplomatic dispute over that, she made the case that she actually had withdrawn the biscuit and reduced her territory. Whew! Crisis averted.

Back outside the gates, one could by "genuine" pottery. Too big to take on the bikes!

The final leg for today was the hop into Grado. To get there you pass by Aquileia, which is a major Roman archeological site. We deliberately just flew by, because we intend to come out for a close look tomorrow.

The path to Grado, out final destination on this stage of the tour, remained perfect all the way - that is - basically paved bike way. The way onto Grado is a 4 km long causeway. When we reached this we declared "The Grampies have reached the Adriatic!", but this is not quite accurate. At this point we had reached the lagoon. We would have to cross to the other side of Grado to really be at the Adriatic.

We followed this waterway on Grado on our push to the real Adriatic.

You can see our route on Grado to the actual Adriatic. But there was a bit of a shock in store, especially for Canadians. When we got to the beach, we found it gated off and locked down. You have to pay to reach the water! In fact it's quite a complicated system. The beach has been partitioned into named sections, each privately controlled. In exchange for about 50 euros, yes 50 euros, you can gain admission and have some deck chairs, as well as change room and life guard. Then you can lie like a seal on your chair - all day?

We did finally locate a free access to the water, and upon putting a foot in could declare that we had reached the Adriatic!

We locate our "apart - hotel", where it turns out we have a ground floor room with good access to the bike garage, and a 5 minute walk to a grocery. What luxury! Tomorrow we will say, ok that was fun, and beatle it off Grado and back to Aquileia. But we'll be back in the afternoon, and maybe actually jump into that sea!

What Gave Meaning to Life today? Absolutely pervasive Jasmine everwhere.

Today's ride: 65 km (40 miles)
Total: 3,353 km (2,082 miles)

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Jacquie GaudetWe also don’t get the pay beach thing. Perhaps it’s because, in Canada, land tenure ends at the high water mark (and in BC, anyway, we have a much larger tide range than on the Mediterranean).
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2 years ago

Don SkerikFinally caught up with you Steve. I just finished reading the last four days. We followed almost the same route on our trip from Munich to Florence. Fun reading your stories.
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2 years ago

Carolyn van HoeveYes definitely magnolia!
Enjoying your journal!
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2 years ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Don SkerikHi Don, we're glad to think you are following the journey!
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2 years ago