Hey guys! This is Frankie, and I'll be posting every Friday! Right now we're in Venice, Italy! It's super awesome, but it's against the law to ride bikes😞🚴. I miss ChoCho and Chile. But we will see them in a few days!!! My 3 favorite things about Italy are…
and comment if you like gelato!!!
224.9 miles, not including wrong turns, getting to hotels, stopping for lunch. Angie says including all those things it’s 254 miles.
Milan, Pavia, Piacenza, Cremona, Casalmaggiore, Mantova, Ostiglia, Ferrara
Tomorrow we attempt our longest ride yet, 60 miles to Chioggia. We might end up on the train, but hopefully not. From there it’s a breezy 11 mile victory lap up the barrier islands to Venice, and we’re done!
We’ve all learned something on our trip (so far):
Frankie: My favorite gelato flavor is tiramisu.
Barbara: Pizza and pasta in Italy are much better than in the USA.
Angie: On tandems, the bike shirt pockets of the front rider mostly benefit the back rider.
Scott: “Ponte Interrato” means “Bridge out”.
Oh Noes!
Biking along the Po River brings many surprises! The bridges that cross the Po River and its tributaries are few and far between. So when a bridge is out (“ponte interrotto”) and it’s not marked on the google maps then the more leisurely 30 miles turns into almost 50. Thanks to Scott for his excellent navigation in finding us a new route. You can see our route here.
Add some rain, lightning, wind and mud and this is really an adventure. But what really made my day was the beautiful bouquet of flowers the girls and Scott put on my pack plus the squash belly buttons we had at a trattoria the very small town of Bocca Bassa (maybe 4 streets at the most).
#slowtravelItaly #bikingItaly
This is in front of the airbnb we stayed at in Cremona. The hosts were wonderful. Mama brought the girls a fresh baked pizza in the afternoon and Papa insisted we take on of his bunjee cords to keep the bike pack on tighter. We felt right at home. They used their iPad and we used our phones on google translator to communicate.
Today we rested up and explored Milan a little. Checked out the Castello Sfozesco, where they had a very cool Da Vinci ceiling. After a very nice lunch at Cuocona we walked over to Basilica Di Santa Maria Della Grazie to see if there were any cancellations for the Last Supper (ha ha!) and then checked out Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia.
Mostly, though, we ate and walked around. More pics here. Tomorrow, the bikes!
We’re on the ground in Milan, resting up for the big trip! Keep an eye on this space for updates, and check out our pictures here.
The Milan metro dropped us off in front of the Duomo, of all places
Pretzel and Bubble
Clap along if you feel like a bowl without a roof-ah.
Clap along if you feel like guppyness is the truth-ah.
This was a great weekend for the girls. Barbara played soccer and Frankie ran a 5k…
Choch checks out the soccer action. If you click on the photo and then zoom in, you’ll see Barbara dribbling the ball in the background.
Credit and regrets to Hallmark.