Umbria.......Go!
This week we ventured into Italy, to Umbria to celebrate a milestone birthday with a dear friend and a collection of fellow dear friends and intrepid travellers. And what an extraordinary week we had, led by local friends Armando and Sandro with a packed program of culture
food..
and wiiiiiiiiiiine..
It really was a once in a lifetime treat, a curated introduction to Italy's history and culture. So very special.
One observation of traveling in Italy that sticks involves car indicator lights.
These are used.... never.....ever......at all. You have to engage something close to Bud Tingwell's "vibe" to figure out the intentions of a driver approaching an intersection.
Unless..
You put both indicators on when stopping in the middle of the road to let a passenger out, or pick one up, or to stop to talk to someone, or to.... not sure.
But rest assured that, in the end, these lights are put to good use, at least the investment of installing them pays off.
With all that cultural immersion, not much riding was done.
Then we had a few days in between milestone birthday celebrations, so ventured north to Lake Garda, where much cycling was done - by us and a large section of the regional population.
Riva del Garda is like a combination of Noose, Las Vegas and ...Bright..? Bicycles everywhere, probably outnumber cars on the (very busy) roads.
Many cyclists on e-bikes (probably 75%) and many of those appear to not have cycled much, making staying safe a constant game.
But
Scenery
From Monte Baldo
which was a bit of a climb
to Passo del Ballino
which was stunning, with some thrills narrowly avoided.
Back to France today, as one does....
Cheers
