The Wandering Idiot

I got an email recently from a reader recommending a stay in Lucca…so it was either, Lucca or Pisa…which do I go to?

Well…from talking to other travellers, Pisa is not much more than a tower and a square – besides that it doesn’t have much more than that going for it.

Lucca on the other hand is a town I’ve never heard of – yet has so much more going for this beautiful fortified city…

But first we go back to the beginning of the day….

I woke up with a stonking hangover and a terribly dry mouth…I think there was a little too much wine flowing last night…

Getting in and out of Riomaggiore by bicycle is no easy feat. It is tucked away in a ravine at the waters edge with massive mountains on all sides…the road in and out snakes up the terraced vineyards in hairpin curves that seem to be endless.

My head was saying ‘take the train’ out to La Spezia (where the cycle would be flat and easier), but my heart was trying to convince my head that I had cycled into this, so now I need to cycle out. If anything, after two liters of water and a hard push uphill for an hour that should at least lift my hangover a bit!

Decision made, I started attacking the steep incline out of the valley, fighting my way up the hill…with effort comes reward…and in this case, it was the view…

After cycling though La Spezia I then followed the Italian coastline along a dreadfully boring and straight road. To my left were the fantastic Apuane Alps – massive and imposing mountains bearing evidence of the seasons first snow…and to my right…dead beach resorts…ghost towns waiting for summer to return.

I didn’t take too many pictures on the road today. The sky was heavy with clouds…no rain, but very cold, gray, and generally depressing weather. Quite different from yesterdays clear skies…I was hiking without a shirt on and topping up my tan! Today it’s the ski gloves, down vest, and long trousers…

Lucca is a great city and buzzing with life at the moment. I took my time to bicycle around the city walls and take in the sights…the Christmas markets are in full swing, there are people everywhere, ice skating, shopping, drinking coffee in the cold…It’s nice…but I can’t wait to be with friends and family. When you are transient like this – just passing through, and not sharing the experience with anyone – I don’t think it is as much fun as it could be.

I’m staying at a youth hostel after there was a mix up with my host, and I wasn’t able to stay there this evening…no worries, live and learn.

At the moment I am fairly excited to get to Croatia…be with my family, buckle down for a few weeks of the winter – eat good home cooked food, be pampered a bit…hehe

I’ve got a lot of time to think about what I am learning from this experience…what it means to me…and what I intend to do with myself when it’s over. Things don’t seem to be getting any clearer…

100km Bicycled Today

2901km to Date