Wednesday April 12, 2006
Today I rode a total of 50 miles. The destination was Cividale via a ride through the green foothills of the Alps. From Semeter Pri Goricia (right across the border for Gorizia, Italy) I climbed about 800 feet out of the Soca river valley. The roads were narrow and windy and I enjoyed riding past many vineyards, old castles on hills and along old stone wall. The trees are in full blossom filling the air with the fragrance of flowers, earthy smell of freshly turned soil and the sound of bird songs. It seems like the local people have been awaiting this season through the long winter. Homeowners and agricultural workers are all outside cleaning up from winter and preparing to plant.
The hilltop town of Ŝmartno (in Slovenia) had everything featured in a brochure: stunning views of the alps on one side, steep hill planted with grape vines on the other side, a terribly old castle straddling a cobblestone street, a man on his roof repairing the chimney and a solid sense that this place is like nowhere in North America.
I crossed into Italy in Venco and turned north along a small river. This was one of the most beautiful parts of today’s ride with a view of the snow-covered Alps ahead, vineyards on both sides of the road and green grass carpeting the entire valley. Evidently other bikers have discovered this road as well because for the first time I saw lots of other road bikers. Eventually I got up the courage to say “ciao” as I passed a biker and got a smile and “ciao” in response. It made me happy to feel like I was part of international community of cyclists.
Two hours later, I discovered Cividale was worth the ride. Even a flat tire outside the city didn’t spoil the enjoyment of arriving in this unique historic place. The original Roman walls are still visible and stand as a testament to the importance of history to the people in this part of the world. The city center’s narrow cobblestone streets are lined with shops, gelaterias (great ice cream) and trattorias (cafes). A cappuccino really hit the spot after riding 25 miles and the gentleman serving us didn’t bat an eyelash at me wearing sweaty bike shorts, cycling cleats and other odd clothing. Really, all he cared about is that I paid in Euros.
In the days of Attila the Hun Civadale was the regional center. The Nattisone river runs through town and an stone bridge that was built hundreds of years ago connects the new part of town to the ancient part of town. I stopped to look down into the deep gorge and saw huge trout swimming in the beautiful green water. The water is worth a story in itself, with the brilliant color coming from the prolific abundance of limestone in this region.
In Cividale the temperature dropped about ten degrees and dark clouds showed up to the north so I began the hour-plus ride home along the less scenic but fast flatlands toward Nova Gorica.
The rain was close behind as I arrived at the Italy-Slovenia border and just after putting my bike in storage the clouds opened up with the kind of rainstorm that would have completely ruined the bike ride. Lucky me, once again!
Tomorrow if the weather is good I want to explore to the south – possibly Aquileia which is near Trieste and has a basilica which is a UNESCO world heritage site. Maybe I’ll learn something while earning that second serving of Tiramisu!
Today I rode a total of 50 miles. The destination was Cividale via a ride through the green foothills of the Alps. From Semeter Pri Goricia (right across the border for Gorizia, Italy) I climbed about 800 feet out of the Soca river valley. The roads were narrow and windy and I enjoyed riding past many vineyards, old castles on hills and along old stone wall. The trees are in full blossom filling the air with the fragrance of flowers, earthy smell of freshly turned soil and the sound of bird songs. It seems like the local people have been awaiting this season through the long winter. Homeowners and agricultural workers are all outside cleaning up from winter and preparing to plant.
The hilltop town of Ŝmartno (in Slovenia) had everything featured in a brochure: stunning views of the alps on one side, steep hill planted with grape vines on the other side, a terribly old castle straddling a cobblestone street, a man on his roof repairing the chimney and a solid sense that this place is like nowhere in North America.
I crossed into Italy in Venco and turned north along a small river. This was one of the most beautiful parts of today’s ride with a view of the snow-covered Alps ahead, vineyards on both sides of the road and green grass carpeting the entire valley. Evidently other bikers have discovered this road as well because for the first time I saw lots of other road bikers. Eventually I got up the courage to say “ciao” as I passed a biker and got a smile and “ciao” in response. It made me happy to feel like I was part of international community of cyclists.
Two hours later, I discovered Cividale was worth the ride. Even a flat tire outside the city didn’t spoil the enjoyment of arriving in this unique historic place. The original Roman walls are still visible and stand as a testament to the importance of history to the people in this part of the world. The city center’s narrow cobblestone streets are lined with shops, gelaterias (great ice cream) and trattorias (cafes). A cappuccino really hit the spot after riding 25 miles and the gentleman serving us didn’t bat an eyelash at me wearing sweaty bike shorts, cycling cleats and other odd clothing. Really, all he cared about is that I paid in Euros.
In the days of Attila the Hun Civadale was the regional center. The Nattisone river runs through town and an stone bridge that was built hundreds of years ago connects the new part of town to the ancient part of town. I stopped to look down into the deep gorge and saw huge trout swimming in the beautiful green water. The water is worth a story in itself, with the brilliant color coming from the prolific abundance of limestone in this region.
In Cividale the temperature dropped about ten degrees and dark clouds showed up to the north so I began the hour-plus ride home along the less scenic but fast flatlands toward Nova Gorica.
The rain was close behind as I arrived at the Italy-Slovenia border and just after putting my bike in storage the clouds opened up with the kind of rainstorm that would have completely ruined the bike ride. Lucky me, once again!
Tomorrow if the weather is good I want to explore to the south – possibly Aquileia which is near Trieste and has a basilica which is a UNESCO world heritage site. Maybe I’ll learn something while earning that second serving of Tiramisu!
posted by Janet B | 1:18 PM
1 Comments:
Yeah, Janet!! You're doing it. Sorry it took me so long to catch up to you...long story. Are you also checking your email?
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