 |
| My campsite for the night, somewhere near Pozzuolo del Friuli, Italy. |
On the downside though, my neck was still very sore and my headache persisted. Maybe my neck is sore just from holding my head up while on the bike?
I couldn't find a supermarket in this little town, but I could find a bakery which sold milk, so I bought a litre from there. And the kind young woman behind the counter threw in a free croissant. It really made my day! And it was so delicious, probably the best croissant I've had.
I ate brekkie at a servo because it was the only place I could find a seat.
I stopped on the next town called Mortegliano to find a toilet. While there, I also spotted a bike shop and thought it was worth a try to check if they had the tyre I needed. They didn't, but I stocked up on some more patches (I was fresh out) and also a third bidon and bidon cage, which I've been meaning to get since I started the trip.
Today felt like the hottest and sunniest day I've had in a long time. So much so that I thought it warranted the unzipping of my pants into shorts, and the application of sunscreen; I still have a full bottle with me that I've been carrying since London, so I thought I might as well use it.
I took the day pretty casually because I knew I'd make it to Venice. I stopped for lunch at 4 pm and got back on the road at 5 pm. I couldn't believe I'd only managed 2.5 hours of riding time for the day! It was time to put my head down.
The roads all day had been narrow, with no shoulder and busy. If I'd had a personal cycling forecaster forecasting the conditions coming into Italy he would have said "scattered cycling infrastructure is forecast, becoming and remaining isolated for the next few weeks, with heavy traffic expected." I saw no sign of the cycling culture that I had expected to see in Italy, and I really didn't feel safe on the roads. On average, there was a truck passing me every minute by my estimation.
I did eventually make it to Venice safe and sound. It was really hard getting around in there with my bike though, since all the bridges over their canals had steps. Kalle had stayed in a hostel here called "A Venice Museum", and he recommended it so I decided I'd stay there too. Kalle left from Venice this morning so I just missed him unfortunately. He warned me that the hostel was really hard to find, he'd wandered around for more than half an hour trying to find it. I located it no worries though with the help of my GPS. Ah I never stop singing the praise of my GPS, do I?
I decided just to book in for one night. At €23, I think it's the most expensive hostel I've stayed at yet.
I hadn't realised it before, but they give you tea there. It was about 9:30 pm so I'd kinda missed tea, but they threw some left over pizza and some potato slice in the oven for me, and another two girls who'd arrived at about the same time as I had.
It was a pretty small hostel, just three eight-bed dorms. I just chilled in the common room with everyone else, there was a group of five people playing Kings. As it turned out, they were all Australians: Tim, Nick and Pat, who were all traveling together, and then Camella and Audrey, who were traveling together.
 |
| In the "A Venice Museum" hostel: Nick in the centre, Pat on the right. |
 |
| In the "A Venice Museum" hostel: Nick in the centre, Pat on the right. |
 |
| In the "A Venice Museum" hostel: Pat on the left, a girl whose name I forget on the right. |
Our discussions were mainly immature but funny. Everyone seemed to get along quite well. There was also a Lithuanian girl who'd gotten to the hostel at the same time as me. She was now living in England though, and studying there, I forget what. The other girl who'd come in when I did was from Melbourne, but I missed the opportunity to talk to her much.
The Australian's all ended up quite trollied, except for Nick who wasn't really drinking. They decided they'd all head out. At one point though, Audrey had to leave the table suddenly, she'd had a little too much wine and had to throw up. The same thing happened to Pat not long afterwards, he'd also had too much wine and went and threw up in the toilets. So only the three remaining Australians made it out. I opted to stay in.
Just after they left, some other people came into the hostel: A French girl with her American cousin, they were traveling around Italy together for a bit. And then there was a German girl with fair skin, blonde hair and blue eyes - your typical Aryan. She'd driven down from Berlin for a week-long holiday from work. We chatted for maybe an hour or two. The French girl reminded me of Haylee Walsh [friend from college]. She'd just finished her law degree and was now a lawyer, soon to be working. The North American guy had a degree in mechanical engineering, but he hadn't been working in the field. He was more into the creative side of things, and had been working for a company which designs shop displays, I think it was.
Discussions amongst this bunch were quite mature, in contrast to the discussions amongst the bunch of Australian's earlier. The American guy talked about where he'd traveled, he'd been all around Europe and done quite a bit because he'd been going for five months. We also talked about such things as the higher education systems in our respective countries, and I told my story of riding through the Alps and staying with the drunk bloke, George, in Villach. Quite an experience that one, eh.
Then they all went to bed. It was another late one for me, about 4:30 am, since I spent some time on the internet before getting to bed.
 |
| My route for the day, Pozzuolo del Friuli to Venice. |
 |
| An overview of my route so far, France to Italy. |
Ride stats:
Distance: 122.61 km
Average: 19.4 km/h
Maximum: 32.8 km/h
Time: 6:19:07
Total ascent: 175 m
Total descent: 235 m
No comments:
Post a Comment