a great little find

This road sign made my day! Meandering about the valley around the Black’s farm this little find really made me smile, as you can see….

San Marino

It was pretty, in a sense. It is the oldest surviving sovereign state and constitutional republic in the world but it is also a massive tourist honey trap which is now rather ugly. It has a real sense of we just want you to spend your cash in our tacky little shops about it, which is a real shame.

However I took some pictures and had a mini adventure of my own so will present them to you. I arrived wanting to find the campsite, which is obviously not in the centre of town but I needed to find its exact location. San Marino sits atop Monte Titano which is 739m high, I cycled to the top in the pouring rain. The cloud was so low that I couldn’t see further than 100m infront of me and had to wear my head torch and bike lights at 2 in the afternoon, I think this might be the weather gods saying “right Miller enough is enough with this sunny weather you have been taking for granted, we are going to give you all the rain you should have had whilst travelling for the past few weeks all in one day”…or something like that. But I made it and spent a few days there to gather myself together before WWOOFing. My other little occurence whilst there was involving a random silver coin (not valuable in the least, it was for a slot machine) that I discovered hidden in the side of the third tower when I decided to take a scramble up the side of it…I honestly don’t know what gave the the idea that this would be a good plan. Something was drawing me to it obviously.

Tower Number I

Looking out to Tower Number II

View back to tower number one

Tower Number III

my little discovery...

view from San Marino

 

At the beach

I went for a trip to the beach, just for a few days you understand. I had been so lucky with the weather that I thought why not chance it? 22 degrees and feeling fine! It rained the day I left but not until after a lovely stroll in the sun, on the sand.

 

 

 

 

wwoofing update

So as of the 23rd of October I will be heading to a little place near Cattolica to wwoof for a couple of weeks, very much looking forward to it. I will keep you updated with pictures and what I’m up to when I get there, Suzie (the owner) seems lovely from her emails and there will be some art historian visiting whilst I am there. Coincidence hmmm.

My new home for two weeks http://www.le-marche.com/suzie/

why?!

…would you do this to a breadstick?

wrap it in ham, are you mad? OK so breadsticks are Italian and this is probably normal here but sorry to me this is just crazy….

washing day

Bologna, the city where I smell fresh and clean. Yesterday was washing day, fun fun. But with cuppa and some cake in the sunshine, glorious!

at the Biennale

Heading to an enormous amount of contemporary art after spending 5 weeks living on a bicycle was a little bit of a shock to the system, for one thing I looked like a total scruff amongst the people of Venice, let alone those of the art world!

If I thought being a bicycle for 5/6 hours a day was tiring, 5/6 hours of art was moreso. I really enjoyed my time there but wasn’t wowed like I thought I would be. Highlights included Anton Ginzburg, Ryan Gander, Christian Marclay and Yuangong. I was more taken by the spaces that The Biennale allows you to discover within the city of Venice, some incredible architecture of the offsite pavillions. Very beautiful and an insight that otherwise I wouldn’t have been party to.

NZ- incredible piano player

little hiddem away location...

Gabriel Kuri- Three Arrested Clouds

Arrival in Venice!

On Monday the 10th October I arrived in Venezia, exactly 5 weeks after disembarking the ferry at The Hook of Holland I had reached my destination.

An odd mix of feelings, largely due to the chaotic nature in which I arrived on the island. The area around Venice is not designed for cyclists, in any way, shape or form. At one point I honesly thought I was going to be cycling on a motorway, luckily I didn’t end up on the motorway and made it across the brdige to the city. You can probably imagine that Venice itself is also not the best  place to take a bicycle, tourist information is over a bridge- the bridge is not smooth and rolling but simply steps.I pushed my bike up and over to the other side, fully loaded. This was OK but I was then met by the least helpful Tourist Info Office I had encountered so far, all those tourists must make you grumpy! Eventually I found the location of my campsite and headed back out of Venice, pushing my bike for 1.5km a long the side of the dual carriageway as I couldn’t cross the continuous crash barrier with my still fully loaded bike. Yes I missed the opportunity to join the road but in all honesty I felt safer where I was, Italian driving is not cycle friendly!

So after setting up camp I returned to the city (by bus) and enjoyed a well deserved glass of wine. I couldn’t help but feel a little strange, I have the Biennale to occupy me whilst in Venice but haven’t organised a place to go next. No map, no destination. Italy is my oyster but I have no idea where to go!

The extremes

So one day you can be going for a swim in an Italian lake in the rolling hills and vineyars of the community of St. Josef, three days later in Feltre there is ice on your tent when you wake up in the morning…so this is why I packed both a bikini and a woolly hat!

it was a little chilly I'll admit...

the lovely lake...

...and some rather spectacular tan lines I think you will agree....

warm and cosy on the inside!

I was the only person on the campsite in Feltre and Tiziana who ran the campsite thought I was crazy, you can spot the blankets which she insisted I borrowed for the night. I was very warm indeed but Tiziana also invited me to dinner where I was given much prosecco, grappe, some incredible polenta and the most potent but incredibly tasty cheese from a local producer.

Trento

My timing was once again rather good, the night I arrived there was a rather lively storm and I was lucky enough- not just due to the weather- but to be staying with the lovely Ivan, Francesca and Agata. A big thank you for looking after me and showing me the city, a special thank you to Agata for letting me sleep in her room! Also a thank you goes to Massimo for arrangeing my stay in his home town.

I did take a photograph of all of us but I feel we are not looking our best as a collective….(and this is even without Ivan’s flip flops!)

The Titas and I

Trento