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Italy


Looking back to the monastery. St. Bernard of Menthon. He founded the monastery and hostel in 1049 to help travellers making their ... The start of the way down. It rapidly became apparent that roads in Italy wouldn't be up to the same... You might be able to see one of the road's avalanch tunnels sloping down the mountainside. It was da... Down there, you can see the modern road emerging from its tunnel and crossing a small valley enclose... The village of St. Rhémy. Etroubles. Each village along this road gives its height. Every time I see one, I'm surprised how high I still ... Aosta and its surroundings. Aosta and its surroundings. In Aosta. This signs are Italian but the language still seems to be French. Aosta. I'm now entering the tourist part of Aosta. Sightseeing in Aosta. A rather comprehensive description of the weather. I think the time shown here was when the weather ... The main square in Aosta. I was shadowed through the city centre by an itinerant accordionist. I don... The Italian flag, along with the flags of the European Union and the Aosta Valley Autonomous Region. Some of Aosta's Roman remains. Ice cream. Well, when in Rome... Part of the river Dora emerging from a hydroelectric facility. I watched this go-cart race for a while. There's the motorway disappearing into a tunnel. Châtillon. Bard Fort. The view from my hotel. Just to the right of the satellite dish, you can see Lake Sirio. I chose thi... In hotels, you tend to get a selection of television chanels from all over Europe so tonight I get t... Fixing the bike again. I think I'm getting the hang of adjusting the spokes. The wheel would turn ou... This van has come from Zagreb. I wonder if I will get that far. I saw a Bulgarian car in Lausanne. I thought I had selected a peaceful unused car park for tinkering with my bike. before long, this lo... The main square in Vercelli. According to the inscription, the chap on the column is "Victor Em... Vercelli. A water feature at a roundabout on the way out of Novara. Trecate, where I bought a selection of very tasty fruit for my lunch. I like doing business in Italy... I spent most of today on main roads. Having now come off them, I'm suddenly getting pretty views lik... I was pleased when I found this red and white sign pointing the way to Milan. Unfortunately, when I ... This is a very pretty and traffic-free route. It also has the best tarmac I've encountered in Italy.... Cassinetta di Lugagnano. This road is primarily for traffic going in my direction, which is lucky. On the way into Milan. Although the traffic was reasonably heavy, the ride was quite good fun. The w... The Milan fire brigade seem to provide a variety of services. Having just given directions to the pe... This is where the Milanese cobbles start. I'll walk from here. Milan. Bikes and mopeds are popular here. I like the little parking spaces. They have hire bikes here too. I was momentarily stunned by this view when I turned the corner into Cordusio Square. More of Milan. I think this is the old marketplace. One of Milan's many posh restaurants. Near the Duomo. The stairs don't quite match the style of the rest of the building. The Duomo, Milan's cathedral. Still in central Milan. On the right is one of the entrances to a smart shopping arcade. Inside the arcade. I was amused by the companies which had acquired the prime corner sites at the intersection of the t... La Scala, the opera house. Looking back at the arcade. More of Milan. The Armani shop in Milan. There are probably some more exclusive fashion names around but I wouldn't... In the park in Milan. Milan is possibly the best city I've ever seen for bike parking. There are stands for locking bikes ... The castle in Pagazzano. I passed a couple of wheels like this today. Just a photograph. I haven't taken one for a while. It was pouring with rain for a while earlier but... More scenery. This is the region known as Lombardy, by the way. I'm skirting the edge of the Alps for a few days now and occasionally get to see them. I liked the w... Nothing special. Riding through there was scary. I'm on a busy road heading out of Brescia. This is its junction with... Here's where my bike will stay tonight. This is another smart-looking hotel. It seems to be slightly... Brescia. Brescia. This looked to me like the kind of building which is described as having an Italian style. It occurr... The Villa Feneroli in Rezzato. A view over Lake Garda from the near Padenghe castle, with some grapes growing in the foreground. Another view from Padenghe castle. Padenghe castle Padenghe sul Garda. Still in Padenghe. The waterfront in Desenzano del Garda. Desenzano del Garda. The harbour. That's a rather heroic stance for painting. Would you like to see his picture? Pretty good actually. I like the fountains on the traffic island. The lake draws plenty of tourists. A lot of them are Dutch or German. I really feel like I'm on holi... There are a lot of cyclists around here. I'm enjoying today's ride. It's hot and sunny and I've got ... Most villages have helpful maps like this. However, they don't seem to have got the hang of putting ... I don't know what this channel was for but the water was moving at quite some speed. Verona has some good cycle lanes. Actually, although there are some poor roads, a lot of the roads i... One of the gates of Verona. No, it's not Swedish; that's the flag of the city. The Castelvecchio. It's surprising how difficult is is to get a good picture of just two blokes, even in a busy public ... I sat here for a while eating ice cream. I studied these relief maps for a while to see what hills were coming up. The Via Roma in Verona. Verona. Verona. Verona. The arena in Verona. I don't know what's on at the arena but it looks like it has an Egyptian theme. One more picture while I'm here. Seen enough walls yet? Looks a bit like Besançon really. This is Vicenza. I'm surprised how many of the shops in the centre are still open well after seven o... Vicenza. On the way out of Vicenza. More views of Vicenza. This is one of the main roads out of the centre of Vicenza. The view from my hotel. Goodnight, bike. If it hadn't been for the spoke breaking, today would have been a pretty perfect da... Flat, isn't it? I've got a following wind too. couldn't be better, really. Today seems to be the hot... The roads are quite straight in this region. I hope you like seeing water channels and the outsides of churches. I seem to have been taking rathe... It's turned into the kind of weather where you find yourself seeking out shade. Piazzola sul Brenta isn't a large town but it's got this huge town square and that rather grand buil... I assume there must be a history of making brooms here. I like the cat chasing the mouse under the t... An unusual building. Just wasting a bit of time taking pictures. I should be getting to Venice, really. More scenery. A place called Mirano. This is in Mestre, the city on the mainland next to Venice. I haven't seen one of these for a while. It's Venice! As I was climbing the five flights of stairs to my room, it occurred to me that I might... On the causeway to Venice. The water on either side is a lagoon, a huge natural harbour separated fr... The less attractive part of Venice. This multi-storey car park and the cruise terminal have been add... This oil terminal is also in the lagoon. Kilometre 425, nearly the end of the line for national road 11. Can you see the gondola just to the left of the middle? Venice! The bridge terminated in a railway station, bus station and car park. From here on, the only... It's a remarkable place. Venice. This seems to be a modern part of Venice. Venice. The canals here really do function like roads. If you look carefully, you might be able to see a set... A rare piece of dry land. The boat with the cover over it is a fruit stall. I'm pleasantly surprised with Venice. It's certainly full of tourists but I expected it to be the ki... The Grand Canal. This is a stop for one of the boats which perform the roles of buses. The screen shows the destinati... The Grand Canal, seen from the Academy Bridge. Most of the city is pretty crowded but every now and then, I encounter a peaceful space like this. T... A Venice back street. Venice. A popular tourist spot. St. Mark's Square. I considered going up the tower but it seems the only way up is in a lift, which ... Rats with wings. There were several of these bands around the square but only one seems to be playing at a time. It l... An astronomical clock. On the left is the Doge's palace. A view across to St. Georges, one of the islands remote from the main part of Venice. Unfortunately, there's not much to see of the Bridge of Sighs at the moment. Still, I've seen other ... Tourists. These were the only bikes I saw in Venice. I didn't see any motor vehicles at all.<br><br>I'm just s... This Hard Rock Cafe looked a bit out of place in Venice. As I left, I realised that I hadn't seen a ... The bridge on the right has a pair of stairlifts running up it. I have seen a few people with pushch... I had dinner here next to the Grand Canal. I was expecting to get ripped off in Venice but this set ... I did have to fight this chap for the food though. A racing gondola. The Rialto Bridge. View from the Rialto Bridge. View from the Rialto Bridge. These shops are on the Rialto Bridge. I think they might be together. The old fruit market. Another peaceful part of the city. The old fish market. It must have been apparent at every stage of this city's construction that this wasn't normal. Venice railway station. When people pose for photographs, I feel I have to take one. The modern glass bridge. I think it's meant to be lit up at night but when I looked back at Venice f... Okay, that's enough. The scenery has certainly changed since I left home. There have been a few geckos running about in t... I bought some spare spokes at this bike and moped shop. I think I caught them just before siesta tim... Bikes outside a restaurant in a small town. A place called La Salute di Livenza. Roadworks in Latisana. Excessive cycle route signposting. In some places, cycle routes are sometimes shared with pedestrian... For a while, there was a second language on some of the signs. I thought it might be Slovene but it ... More exotic flaura. Not sure what this is doing here, apart from advertising a restaurant. When I pulled over to look at my map, these guys pulled up behind me, got out of their car and walke... Gradisca d'Isonzo is a rather leafy place. I'm not sure what the blue and white flag is but there were lots of them flying in this area. I was going to lock my bike to this. Not a bad view from tonight's hotel. Victory Square in Gorizia. The building up ahead is in Slovenia. I've arrived at the border. The flower pots are in Italy but everything beyond them is Slovenia. On the border.