Nedly on his Treadly: Alberese to San Vincenzo

Friday December 3, 2010

My camp site in San Vincenzo, tucked in between a hedge, a bush and a statue.

There was some really loud thunder overnight, which woke me from my slumber a few times, but it was still a great sleep. I also spotted a few planes flying over.

From a distance, they look like birds, but they are planes.

I must have needed a good rest, because I didn't wake up until after one o'clock! I wasn't in much of a hurry as I ate breakfast and packed up, because I didn't head off until 3 pm! I checked the map and it looked like I could bypass Grosseto, so off I went.

On the Via del Versagliere in Alberese, Italy.

Unfortunately when I got to the river, I discovered there was no bridge across it, so I had to back track and then go through Grosseto, not the preferred option as it was longer and the roads much busier.

A river at the end of the Strada Vicinale Vecchia Aurelia, near Spergolaia, Italy.

Back-tracking after running into a river.

Taking the scenic route through Grosseto.

I felt like I was risking my life taking some of those main roads through Grosseto.

On the Fiume Ombrone, heading into Grosseto, Italy.

I stopped in at a supermarket in Grosseto and bought a few of my staples - milk and corn flakes. Then I continued on through various other little towns, listening to podcasts along the way. The riding wasn't too bad, with some quieter roads, and some accompanied by bike lines or bike paths too, as well as some more scenic scenery than I'd seen further south.

I stopped in a town called Follonica for tea, and ate a pizza with a beer, delicious!

Pizza for tea in Follonica.

I continued on, and saw a few patches of snow on the sides of the road - the first signs of snow that I'd seen at that point, but there'd be more of that to come as I headed further north, and further into the European winter.

I wanted to break the 100 km mark for the day, but it was a tall ask considering how late I headed off in the day. I ended up finding a reasonable camping spot in a playground, near a railway line, so I set up there for the night.

It's interesting writing these blog posts almost a year after I was there. The memories have of course faded, especially those of the conversations I had and people I met, which is probably why my posts are much shorter than before. But some parts of the trip are still quite vivid, and the photos I took are effective at revoking the memories. And I can view my route on Google Earth, which is also a good reminder of all the places I saw along the way, and recalls many of the images in my mind. Certain points along my route each day I have very clear images of in my mind, and other points along the route I don't even recall. But of course this is natural, depending on how much I took in at the time.