Sunny Sunday, let's head for the coast! (Never mind the snow...)

After much erming and aahing, we decided to head off to the festival of San Giuseppe in Cervia on the Romagnolo east coast. With expectations of a lovely fish lunch, we set off into the gorgeous sunny but chilly morning.
We've had so much snow this winter, but early last week we had the heaviest snowfall not just of this winter, but of many winters, with 50cm falling in little over 24 hours in our area of Modena and nearly a metre in Romagna where we were heading. As we headed towards Bologna, there was still snow lying in the fields, and in spite of the customary many layers, it was a bit chilly up on the back.
Leaving the confines of Bologna, the snow in the fields began to peter out. Interesting, since this was the area that had had more snow. All I can assume was that it was now warmer than around Modena and most of it had melted. There was still evidence of it in the shady bits of fields and the colossal mounds around the edges of service stations. This part of the journey was a bit warmer and was decidedly pleasant as we got nearer to the coast.
We parked up and had a walk before finding somewhere to eat for lunch. The sunny weather and festival had brought in a lot of visitors and restaurants were pretty full. We eventually opted for "La Cambusa", over the road from the lighthouse. We decided to forgo the starter and get straight in with the main course. I opted for a mixed grill of crustaceans, and Claudio went for mixed fried seafood and vegetables. We had this with oven roast potato wedges and grilled vegetables. Completely delicious. I finished off with a yummy mandarin sorbet and Claudio had a coffee.
After lunch we had another walk about and then headed home.
The festival of San Giuseppe largely takes place on the beach and in the evening there are fireworks and a ceremonial bonfire to burn all the sad and old things from the winter. Unfortunately we missed this as we wanted to get home before dark. Nevertheless, we had a great trip out!




km: 300
Buzzards spotted: 4 (one of which was on ground eating something
Grey Herons spotted: 2
Egrets spotted: 2
Grebes spotted: 1
Silly little dogs spotted: Millions. Loads with silly clothes on

Castello di Canossa

Saturday, and another sunny day, this time quite a warm one. Time to tog up and take Ruby out for a spin. We decided to stick fairly close to home and do a circuit taking in Castello di Canossa, in the Province of Reggio Emilia and in the Reggio Apennines.
We set out on one of those crystalline mornings and one of the rare occasions when not only are the Apennines as clear as a bell, but the more distant Alps are also visible. It was also pleasantly warm, and for the first time since riding on Delilah early last summer, I wasn't frozen on the back. We saw quite a few bikes out as we headed away from the towns and up into the countryside. I sit there, lollipop-head swivelling backwards and forwards, taking in the scenery. After all the rain, the rivers were running fast and full and looked quite spectacular. I'm always on the lookout for interesting wildlife, particularly roe deer and foxes which can occasionally be spotted on the slopes running up from the road. No joy today, however.
I love seeing new places and actually being there, but for me the getting there is not so pleasant. I get terribly travel sick, especially when climbing hills with curvy roads. On the bike however, I never feel sick, so it's an ideal form of transport. For people who either have no appreciation of or have never travelled by motorbike, it's hard to explain why the getting there is part of the pleasure. It's not just about being in a new place, but about the things you experience on the way. Say to someone you'd rather ride the bike up to the UK than take the plane, and they think you're mad. I get in a real state travelling by plane. Not because it frightens me but because of all the faffing around at the airport, worrying you've got too much luggage, or they're going to confiscate something, or strip-search you, or interrogate you because you say the wrong thing. Then breathing all that recycled air on the plane, crammed in with all those other people. I hate it completely. Give me Ruby any day.
So, back to the trip. We arrived at Canossa a little before lunch so had a walk up to the ruins of the castle and the little museum. The views from the top were amazing with the Apennines on one side and the mighty Alps in the distance on the other, and the museum small but really well laid out and informative.



Canossa castle was the home of the legendary Matilda who was apparently a useful go-between when the then Pope and Henry IV fell out. There are loads of Medieval castles in this region of Emilia Romagna, often reflected in the names of the surrounding towns, such as Castellarano and Castelvetro.
There was a family-run restaurant, "La Rupe" below the castle where we enjoyed tagliatelle with funghi porcini. I finished with apple cake and Claudio had "zuppa inglese" which is similar to trifle.
We then headed home, stopping to do some errands on the way. It really feels like spring is just around the corner, but the "mackerel sky" that greeted our homecoming promised a dismal Sunday and showed that it's still too early to expect too many sunny days on the trot. Still, it's a start.
km: 194
Egrets spotted: 1
Buzzards spotted: 2
Butterflies spotted: 3 (one yellow of some kind and 2 red admirals)
Bumblebees spotted: 1
Flies splattered on visor: 1 (greenfly)
Flies splattered on bike: Loads (must be spring)

Pre-season warm up trip to Peschiera

For once it was going to be sunny. I swear this winter is lasting for ever and has been so dreary and wet. We normally have plenty of cold, crisp, sunny days in the winter, but this year has been awful. Last Sunday was a day where the sunny weather coincided with a day that promised to be well above freezing, so of course we couldn't resist getting Ruby out for a spin. We had plans for later in the day so knew we couldn't venture too far. We're lucky to have Lake Garda only an hour away, so that's where we headed for. Peschiara, to be precise, which is the nearest resort to us.
The trip started well with not much traffic and lovely sunshine. A bit parky but bearable. Then we reached the outskirts of Mantova and what started as a few wispy fronds of fog over the ground grew into a bank that lasted probably 30-odd km. It was wet and very chilly. We nearly turned round and went home... Luckily for us, we didn't because when we emerged from the other side it was lovely and sunny again and we were nearly there.
We parked the bike with lots of others and had a wander around the town. It's nice with these resort towns because shops tend to stay open on Sundays. We then set off for a walk along the lake side in search of something to eat. I want to mention at this point that Peschiera has the most piles of dog poo I've seen in a town for a long time. Anyway, we knew we'd probably be eating with friends later so when we found a little café serving light food, we went in. We chose a slice of pizza and chips. We waited about 45 minutes for this simple fair, but it was warm and filling when it eventually arrived. It also cost us a small fortune... hey-ho! After a sit in the sun by the lake, we headed back home. It was much warmer on the homeward journey with no sign of the pesky fog that blighted and froze us on the way up. A good time was had by all!

km: 226
Grey herons spotted: Loads
Egrets spotted: 6
Grebes spotted: 2
Ducks spotted: Loads
Gulls spotted: 12
Swans spotted: 2
Buzzards spotted: 2
Coypu spotted: 4
Dog poo stepped in: 0 (for once...)

Planning for next summer's trip

So, with winter settling in and rides out a bit few and far between, our attentions have turned to next summer and where we're going to go on a "big trip". We've toyed with North Cape and Cappadocia, but we've all but set our hearts on Morocco. The idea is still embryonic, but we are gathering ideas about where we'd like to go. We'd appreciate any tips or comments about the most picturesque places and nice places to stay. We won't be going off-road or venturing into the dunes, so no tips needed there, thanks!

Keeping warm on the bike

For the purposes of our latest trip up into the Apennines, my base layer consisted of a cotton, polo-neck, long-sleeved top, cashmere and silk leggings and 2 pairs of socks:This was then covered with a 200gsm weight fleece and my trusty buff. My trousers have a water resistant gore tex outer layer with an insulating inner layer for parky days such as this one:
I've found that wearing a wind-stopper makes all the difference, so that goes on next:
Finally my jacket, also made of gore tex that has a removable quilted lining, balaclava and gloves (with a pair of liners in my pocket, just in case):
This might seem like a lot of clothes but you can never underestimate the wind-chill factor on a motorbike. Even on a hot day, it's always fresh up there on the back. I think it's colder for me as a pillion because I don't have the engine just in front of me blasting out warm air. On our first couple of trips on the new bike, I was absolutely freezing, and I was quite warmly dressed even then. With this lot on I was comfortable, even if I did look like the Michelin man when I'd finished!

To the hills!

After enjoying a few days of unseasonably warm autumn weather, today at 11°C it was a little closer to normal autumn temperatures, and since we were heading into the Apennines once again, I knew it could be chilly. On went the full set of warm clothes.
The winding trip up is always a delight and at this time of year the colours take your breath away. Copper beech trees and golden oaks, interspersed with still quite green ash and evergreen carob and vivid red cherry. This year is one of those autumns you get every now and then when the colours are more saturated than normal and going for a ride on days like these is the most fabulous experience in the world.

We wound our way up towards Passo delle Radici at just over 1500m above sea level where it was much warmer than I'd expected. We then continued up to the village of San Pellegrino in Alpe, just inside Tuscany and straddling the borders of the provinces of Modena and Lucca, where we had a hearty lunch of traditional tortelloni filled with spinach and ricotta with a funghi porcini sauce. All finished off with a piece of cake. Yum!



We set off after lunch and had a terrific trip back down again, homeward bound.

km: 178.5
Number of foxes spotted: 1
Number of cormorants spotted: 1 flock
Number of coypu spotted: 1 family group, grazing
Number of cars pulling out in front of us without looking: 1

Seafood Lunch in Cesenatico

Today, knowing that the weather forecast was promising a lovely sunny and relatively warm day, we set off for Cesenatico on the east coast. I'd recently got kitted out with some wind-proof layers and was confident that this time I wouldn't arrive at our destination looking like an ice-lolly. We decided to take the motorway to get there and back as quickly as possible since we've just put the clocks back and wanted to try and get home in the light.

It's a pretty straight route down with the motorway more or less following the same road as the historical Via Emilia that runs in a straight line from Milan to Ravenna. The topography is really flat and the vegetation largely cultivated but pretty nevertheless. What was interesting is that most of the grapevines were still green. Around us they have started to turn beautiful autumn colours. The grapes around us are largely Sorbara Lambrusco grapes, while the vines that we saw around Faenza are generally San Giovese. Perhaps this accounts for the differences. The fruit trees on the other hand were vivid golds, oranges and reds and really spectacular. One of the less attractive aspects of the journey however, was the large number of pigs being transported, presumably to be slaughtered. This region of Italy favours pork products over just about anything else you can think of. Buon appetito, but not for me, thanks...

We left the motorway at Cesena, where it said it was 20km to Cesenatico. We saw our first seagull here. Unlike in the UK, seagulls in Italy tend to frequent the coast and inland stretches of water only. It was nice to see them, knowing we were close to the coast. After travelling a couple of kilometers, we saw that Cesenatico was now only 9 km away. After another 5 or so, we saw it was now 7. Italy, the only place that tells you how far away a place is as the crow flies, rather than how the road pans out... Still, nice to know we were nearly there!

Considering it is now out of season, Cesenatico was quite busy. It can be quite dismal in the winter, like most seaside towns. We had a walk and admired the colourful barges before heading off for the main purpose of the day: a seafood lunch by the coast!

















After lunch we had quite a long walk, including walk along the beach. In the UK there would have been people swimming, not here.





So, off home again, chasing the light north west. We didn't quite make it home in the light, but almost. A fabulous day.