Getting Home - Schnooks Takes A Turn in Puglia - Tandem Tour - May 2024 - CycleBlaze

May 22, 2024 to May 26, 2024

Getting Home

Those not interested in logistics can skip this entry.  It covers the days between finishing our ride in Bari and arriving home in Limoux.

Wednesday May 22nd

We spent this day exploring the old town of Bari and doing some shopping for some of the great food items that we’ve been eating on this trip.

The old harbor - Bari
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In the old town of Bari
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In the old town of Bari
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Thursday May 23rd

This was a transit day.  We left Bari at around 1000 and drove up the autostrada to Ravenna.  Due to an accident that kept us sitting still on the freeway for an hour, we arrived in Ravenna at around 1830.

Even the food in the autostrada rest areas is good!
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Waiting for the accident to clear up
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We chose to stay in the "Villa Noctis" B&B because it had a private enclosed parking lot.  With the bike in the car, we're not comfortable parking on the street.    

Friday May 24th

We spent this day exploring the history and art of Ravenna.  We had both wanted to visit this city for a long time, and this trip seemed to be a good opportunity to add it in.

We weren’t disappointed!  What beautiful mosaics!

The mosaics of Ravenna
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The mosaics of Ravenna
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The mosaics of Ravenna
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The mosaics of Ravenna
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The mosaics of Ravenna
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One interesting thing about Ravenna is that it’s very bike-oriented.  In fact, we haven’t seen a city outside of The Netherlands that has the amount of bike traffic that we’ve seen in Ravenna.  Everyone, from kids to grandmas, is on a bike.  It’s encouraging, but they could still do more to make the city pedestrian and bike friendly.

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Saturday May 25th

No pictures at all!  We had breakfast in the Villa Noctis and drove from Ravenna to Bordighera.  We left around 1000 and arrived about 1600, stopping 3 times for short breaks.  We like Bordighera - it's an easy day's drive from home, and it has a great beachside Italian vibe to it.  

We stayed at the "Gold Hotel" and can recommend it.  We chose it again because of the gated car park, which made us feel like the tandem was safe in the car. 

One of the nicest things about the hotel was that the bed wasn't rock hard!  We got the best night's sleep we've had in a while.  The hotels we've been staying in seem to prefer very, very hard beds.   It's hard on our old bodies!

Sunday May 26th

Again no pictures!  We had a great breakfast in the hotel and hit the road about 1000.   "Like old horses smelling the barn" as my grandfather used to say, we were motivated to get home.  We raced across fairly familiar autoroutes, stopping only for a quick sandwich near Aix-en-Provence and a gas fill-up near Montpellier.  We were opening our garage door by 1530.

It feels good to be back home!   But there's a ton of garden maintenance that we're going to be busy with for a few days.  The cost of cycle touring...


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Rachael AndersonI’m glad you took time to explore Ravenna. It is such a beautiful place!
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