October 5, 2011
Out of the Mountains: We are tourists in Bassano
Well we didn't stay in Valstagna last night because after riding for about 4 km we came to it and it was actually a small town with various services. Where we did stay will forever remain a mystery but I am glad we did or we would have missed the delicious tripe soup we had for dinner and missed out on seeing a very, very tiny Italian Village where no English is spoken at all. News that such weirdos were in town had spread because when we showed up at the bar for dinner we were clearly expected and were the only people eating there.
It was a very short down hill ride this morning and gradually the signs of urban development began to appear and the valley began to widen a bit. Then just before Bassano suddenly we were out of the mountains. We have been in the mountains for 8 days now so we will miss the marvelous views - the last 4 days have been down hill so we will miss that too though it will be all flat now to Venice. With now a lot of time to spare before we need to be in Venice we decided to stay in Bassano. It looked an interesting old town and indeed it is. By some miracle we found the tourist information (they always try and hide them and seldom put signs to them). I got a map showing a cycle friendly route towards Padova. One of the interesting and rather strange things is that we saw a memorial saying that this town was bombed in World War One and many killed - I was only dimly aware of bombing then. The town has lots of lovely Piazzas with many gelato shops (I will get fat again) and a very pretty Ponte Vecchio over the Brenta.
Today's ride: 18 km (11 miles)
Total: 3,691 km (2,292 miles)
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