Verona

I forgot to mention in the last post that one of our favorite experiences in Italy was the day we left Venice we stopped at a rural restaurant and got a meal that consisted of homemade spaghetti with bread (we thought this was the meal) and then sausage and ribs with salad, we each has a beer and after we paid 30 euro for the 25 euro meal they gave us each a shot of melon vodka. This was the best meal we ate in Italy and the cheapest and they didn't speak a word of English. We gave them a Canada pin. The day got better as we came upon an outdoor market of antiques and other used goods. I found a vendor of vintage bike parts with loads of hubs from the 50s and 60s and 2 Campagnolo Cambio Corsa set ups, magistroni cranks and a frame to go with it all. I ended up buying a NOS Regina Oro Chain.

Anyway Verona is incredible. The city has lots of Roman bits in pieces including the central arena (or what's left of it) and an ancient city wall, we even saw the remains of the ancient city gate's towers, the main part of the building is now occupied by shops and businesses. The view from our campsite was like that from a hotel as we were situated on top of part of the ancient city wall to the east of the city. Imagine we are paying to get into old castles and stuff and now we are sleeping on a fortified wall that is well over 1000 years old! I can't say enough about how great Verona is.





Italy has been the most unpleasant place to ride in as our routes have not followed rivers or other bike paths. We cannot find any maps of cycle routes and there doesn't appear to be a good network anyway. The rural folks are very friendly, but in a city like Milan people ween very rude. Maybe it just seems that way because we are Canadian.