Sam, Justin and me

Today it was a little warmer than the yesterday. We caught the 9am ferry to Venice again, to have plenty of day light, as it was the last day there. My last important visit in the city was the Peggy Guggenheim collection of modern art, by the grand canal. It has a permanent exhibition of paintings and sculptures, some of which are in the nice garden, as well as a temporary exhibition. I spend about an hour in there and then I continued my day with wondering around the city.

One of the churches, that I don't remember its name

The big boy with the little frog...

Even Venice has graffiti

Loads of laundry

Last minute souvenirs

While wondering, I was always checking the Biennale map for additional near by exhibitions that are scattered around Venice. They are small, so I think I visited more than 15 within these days. The only problem was that they were hard to locate, as the map in the brochure was not very detailed and in general it is hard to find your way in Venice in the first place.

In one of the Biannale exhibitons held within a palace

Magnetic art

After 12 hours of walking it was time to head back. Before heading back, I went to the supermarket for some shopping, as this time it was my turn to cook dinner for Justin and Sam. Their little caravan has a small kitchen with everything you need, plus it’s warm so I was happy to spend an hour in there.

Late in the afternoon

Sunset by the port

I woke up with the nice view of Venice, but also some big boats crossing. We had already said with Justin and Sam that would cross to Venice together, so we got ready and took the little boat.

The sea in between the camp site and Venice

I got a little bit annoyed with the amount of money I spend with within the morning. The reason I chose this campsite was because it is just opposite Venice, so I thought with the 3 days vaporeto pass I would be fine, but I wasn’t. The pass didn’t cover the boat from the campsite, so I had to pay an extra €25 for these three days. But I guess that’s Venice

for you, so I just had to deal with it.

Approaching Venice

We finally got to the city which is as interesting as I had expected. You can only agree that it is a very strange but beautyful place. It is also packed with tourists and all the central places are saturated with souvenir shops, very expensive restaurants and cafes and gondola owners chasing you for a romatic boat ride, within the canals.

At the grand canal

The famous Rialto bridge

That reminds me I have to do the laundry

Venice is famous for its masks

During my stay, it happened to be the 53rd Bienalle of Venice, so I though I should take the opportunity and visit it. There are two massive exhibition spaces that require a ticket, but also several smaller venues that are free. I bought the ticket and since I wouldn’t make both places in one day I decided to start with the smaller one, which is located in Arsenale which is the place where they used to make boats. The exhibits were all kind of modern art, some very interesting, others not as much.

Colorful art

Repetitive art

It took me about two hours to go around it and by the end I was starving, so I left in a desire for one of those big and cheep sandwiches that I was seeing all day. Luckily the exhibition takes place in a quieter area of Venice, with more cosy cafes and bars, so I jumped into one of them and apart from food I took advantage of their toilet. As I said, Venice is a little bit expensive and one of the things that I find a little extreme is the €1.50 charge to go to one of the public toilets. I think they also accept credit cards.
After a little bit of wondering around the alleys, I ended up going to the National Modern Art Gallery for more art…

Bright art

I had my typical ice cream and started making my way to the south to catch the boat back to the camping. One thing with Venice is that it is a lot bigger than you first think. The small alleys and canals, gives you the wrong impression, but in fact it is big and with the amount of dead ends, you end up wasting time which are dangerous for missing the latest boat.

opst... wrong way

I made it back to the camp site at around 8pm, where I met Justin and Sam again and they kindly offered me food, which I was very glad to accept.

I was thinking whether I should take the day off or not, since my last break was 6 days ago in Genova. I decided to continue so I can spend several days in Venice which of course has many more things to see. In fact the day before I only cycled for half a day, so I had a little bit of time to recover and also the slight tail wind helped with an easy and fast ride.
So the plan was to get to Venice and stay in the hostel which is located in a very good location at the Guidecca island. For the first time in my trip, I thought it may be a good idea to phone in advanced a reserve a bed. Unfortunately that hostel and the other three were all booked out. That ruined my morning a little bit, but luckily the weather was nice, so I thought I should go to a camp site. After asking in the tourist office, I found one which is just opposite of Venice and has access via a 20 minutes boat trip, which sounded ideal.

On the way to Padova

After my little morning adventure, I started cycling east with a first stop in Padova. I spend a couple of hours there for lunch and ice cream and a little wonder around the old city. The city has several sightseeing that can probable keep you busy for a couple of days. In fast forward, I saw the three main plazas, with the several churches big old buildings. I happened to be there on a graduation day and it seems to be a tradition that the graduate will do crazy things all around the city. Some were wondering around in weird outfits, others would read out things and people would laugh.

Graduate 1

Graduate 2

One of the biggest plazas of Padova

This church looked imported with many tourists and a pricy ticket

I left Padova at around 2pm, as I wanted to be close to Venice early enough, in case there were other problems. The road to Venice from the side roads and not the motorway is rather nice. It runs parallel with a canal, through the town of Dolo and Mira, which they kind of good samples of what you are about to see in Venice

.

The canal by Mira

Approaching the camp site

The last 5 kilometers were a slight disappointment though. Venice is extremely beautiful place and it is there for hundreds of years, so I don’t understand why at the exact opposite side of it there is a heavy industrial area. The camp site it self is nice and it has a great view of Venice. But from one side of it, there are all the big chimneys, there are frequent planes landing to the nearby airport and every now and then you a massive ferry or tanker will sail just 50 meters from my tent. It’s not a big problem, Because you don’t see any of these within Venice, but it’s just the bad first image you get from the city.

The not so romantic view of Venice

After I pitched my tent, I went back to the near by town to buy a few things so I can once again cook my dinner. As I was cooking, a girl approached me and invited me to join her and her boyfriend for dinner. Sam and Justin are from Australia and they are on a big road trip from England to all around Europe, with a small caravan that they bought from eBay for just £100. After Europe, they are going to Egypt and then Malaysia to get married and finally return to Australia for good.

I was ready and just about to leave the hostel when I realized there was breakfast included in the price, which of course I didn’t want to miss.The plan was to spend about an hour in the tourist office where there was wifi. I have to say though, these Italians should be a little bit paranoid with their state security or something, as I had to fill out forms and applications, give out my passport along with other details in order to get the login and the password to access the internet. A process similar with applying for a VISA and along with waiting the old lady before me to do the same, I really waisted half an hour of my precious morning time.

Nice little houses

The weather was once again foggy and very humid, but I was in the mood for many kilometers. The scenery was preaty much the same with yesterday’s and flat for the entire day. It was a little bit more interesting though, as this time though there were a few rivers to cross.

Crossing river Po

Very nice to be able to see the river below

The river side

The tyres of Hanoi

The lunch break took place in Cremona for a picnic style food in the main square, where a big open market was taking place. Without knowing the facts, I assume Cremona is famous for its violins. I saw plenty of shops making and selling violins and many posters all around the town.

Cremona

One of Cremona's churches

Violin shop

A big violin

Initially I was Planning to go to Bergamo, but the tourist office told me there are no camp sites or hostels there. I had to alter my route a little and after looking the map with all the hostels of Italy, I decided to go more to the east, rather than North, to the village of Rivalta Saint Mincio, where there was definitely a hostel open all year round. Going there, I decided to leave the main road and join secondary ones and go through nicer landscapes. It was indeed a good option, as the road was very quite and the scenery a lot nicer. There were vasts land fields covered with newly born trees and I assume they export all shorts of trees. Again, looking at the map, I decided to go through one of the smaller road, that goes close enough to the river, which was off road for about 5 kilometers.

Me in half a century

The off road bit by the river

Some of the many trees

A nice and quite road

I got to Rivalta Saint Mincio and I found the hostel straight away, next to a fantastic setting by the river. After a pizza for dinner, I met another cyclist in the hostel. Christoph is from Germany and he has just started his year and a half cycle trip all around the world! He rode from the east Italy, so he gave me valuable information about the cities I am going to visit over the next few days and made me alter my plans a little bit.

The river right in front of the hostel

Within the same courtyard with the hostel, there was a tourist informtion office that I had visited the previous afternoon. In the morning, I went back in for further information and ended up spending about half an hour talking to one of the girls about my long cycle trip. As I was leaving the courtyard, they called me back and offered me presents! A jacket, a tShirt and a bandanna with the regional logo and the website of the tourist office. They said I will need them when the weather gets colder. I kindly rejected the jacket, as I am already carrying two, but I was happy to keep the bandanna and the tShirt as the one I have, has changed three colours during the trip.

Outside the tourist information office

The hostel's courtyard

The entrance to the courtyard

Before I left Alessandria I went to the center to buy a map and to visit one of the bakeries, where I couldn’t resist and I bought a collection of stuff to eat for breakfast and later on. I left the town at around 11pm which is relatively late. It did rain during the night and for the entire day it was cloudy and a little foggy, making the ride feel a little miserable. The road was entirely flat, so the scenery didn’t change that much, apart of crossing a couple of dried out rivers. On the way I saw a car crash. That’s the second one I see during my trip, but I get the impression they occur more often in Italy. Over the last coupe of days, I’ve seen drivers doing some very stupid things on the road and that worries me a little bit.

Today's scenery

It was a little misty today

One of the many factories I saw on the way

And the car crash

It was around 5pm and I still didn’t know where I’m going to spend the night. Unfortunately not all the towns in Italy have a tourist office like in France and those that I visit will only have information about their department, which is usually smaller than what I cycle each day, making planning a little difficult. I was heading to the relatively big city of Piacenza, hoping there will be something cheap to sleep. When I got there, I didn’t manage to locate the tourist office, but the locals I asked said there is no camping around, but luckily there was a youth hostel. I didn’t mind at all, since the ground was still wet from last night’s rain and the hostel looked empty and once again I had a 7 beds room for my self. I had a big pizza for dinner along with an Italian beer called ‘Birra Moretti’.

At Piacenza's main square

And here I am, still in  Nice. One of the advantages of solo cycle touring, is that I can change my plans at any time. Last night I met Imen in the hostel. Sh is just about to start her studies in Nice, so as she is new to the city we said to go around and explore it. I didn’t mind at all staying another day in Nice and another day in France. It would also be good for my knee to get some extra rest.

One of the employees of the hostel is Greek and the very first Greek person I met during my entire trip in France.  I find it a little bit strange, but it is true. He told me there is a Greek church just around the corner from the hostel, so we decided to go and have a look.

The Greek church an the embasy

Later on, we went via the old city to the other side of the hill, where there is the port of Nice. It’s a small port, but if fits one ferry, many yatchs and even more small fishing boats.

A patch of sand, just so everybody is happy

Pick one

Fishing boats

There was a music festival taking place in one of the churches in the old part of the city. Part of the festival had a flower decoration exhibition, so the church was full of flowers filling the space with a nice scent.

The door of the church with the flowers

The inside decorations of the church

After going up and down the hill for another time, we ended up spending some time in one of the plazas of the old city for an ice cream.

Apparently this is the best icecream of Nice

Outdoor activities

Sunrise by the camping

I woke up earlier than normal as the night before I had collapsed straight after my dinner. Today’s day was all about Marseille. I didn’t want to spend the night there, just to have a quick look, so I am glad I wasn’t that far away. Even though, it took me three hours to get into the city, because of the hills that I had to go up and all the highways I had to avoid.

A nice but louder way of traveling

I knew Marseille is a big port but only when I first saw it after exiting a small tunnel, I truly appreciated its scale. In order to get to the center, I had to go through its massive port, under highways and loads of construction sites. It was a little hard and didn’t really enjoy cycling there. At the center it was extremely busy, with loads of tourists and had a massive traffic jam. I kind of wanted to leave straight away, but in the end I did stay for a few hours, to eat some lunch and wonder around a little bit.

First view of Marseille

Looks like a human made beach

One of the street in the city

The old port

A market

As I was about to leave, I noticed my front brand new tire was flat, even if it claims to be bulletproof. I repaired it quickly and started cycling again to the south. On the way out of the city, I stopped briefly to see one of Le Corbusier’s building that is build there. I am sure there should be an apartment open to visitors, but it was getting late in the day to look for it.

Le Corbusier Meuble Court

and the famous Modulor

Marseille from the near by hill as I was leaving

Right after I exited the city, I started climbing the nearby hill to pass to the other side. My destination was Cassis, for which I heard it is a nice fishermen village with a camping. I found it, put my tent and after my dinner I went for a walk in its center and its nice port.

For all those that think that cycle touring is dangerous, hard and way too much effort, I met two German girls in the center that are on their bikes for the last month, cycling all around France, going up and down the mountains and sleeping in the wild. Rosy and Antonia are 19 and 20 years old and they still have another three weeks to go. I wish I had started touring at that age.

]]> http://blog.ch3.gr/day-40/feed/ 1 http://blog.ch3.gr/day-37/ http://blog.ch3.gr/day-37/#comments Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:32:12 +0000 Georgios http://blog.ch3.gr/?p=710 18km of 2483km so far…

After a heavy and good sleep in the hotel’s room, I woke up and quickly packed my stuff, anxious to see what will happen with my burst tire. The owner of the hotel did drive me to the closest shop to look for a spare. The first place had a very poor selection and couldn’t find the right one. The second one had a single tire of the correct size and even if it was’t what I liked, I just had to buy it, as the hotel guy was loosing his tempter. I returned to the hotel and fitted it and off I went again.
After all these I wasn’t up for much cycling and luckily Montpellier wasn’t far at all. On the way, I cycled over a freshly paved road and a layer of hot tarmac stuck on my front wheel. After what happened the day before, by the time I got to Montpellier, I went to a decent bike shop and replaced the front tire as well just to prevent any more surprises.
I send a text to one of the guys I met in the Carcassonne’s hostel, that he had just moved there. He invited me to stay over and we ended up spending the whole day together sightseeing the city. Hubert is from Quebec and has just started architecture in Montepellier, which happens to be a big student city, with many schools and universities.
We visited a photographic exhibition of the famous aerial photographer Yann Arthus Bertrand. Then we wondered around the old part of the city, which is rather big and consists of hunderds of small alleys. At one end of the old city, there is a big plaza from where you can see the old water system and many buildings in Roman style. In general Montpellier is fantastic and very lively, with its fantastic old city, loads of events and crazy students.

After a few hours of walking, we went back to the flat to cook and eat. As it was still early, we decided and went out again for some drinks. After more than a month living in my tent, I am very glad I had this opportunity to out again and socializing with french people.

That's a lot of bear

I woke up and I had a good breakfast waiting for me, with tea croissants and home made marmalade. Packed my bike, said goodbye and thank you and headed for Toulouse.

Rennes and me before I left for Toulouse

Toulouse wasn’t far away at all. A little more than 10 km, so I took it easy and got there at about 11am. I knew it was going to rain today, so I was debating whether I should look for a hostel and be closer to the center. At the tourist office they told me there isn’t any camp site, so that solved my problem. It took me some time and frustration in the rain to find it, because the word hostel doesn’t exist in French. I am a little curious to see how much better, or not, I will sleep on a bed, after spending a month sleeping in my tent. The hostel it self is good enough and very cheap plus free wifi.

After I checked in, I did a massive laundry and I took some time to look after my bike. It’s been a few days now and especially after Pyrenees, that I wanted to swap the front to back tires, as the back one wears off faster because of the weight. After visiting the local outdoors shop to fully pump up the tires and buy a few extra things, I was ready to go around the city.

I randomly wondered around the alleys, I crossed the bridges a couple of times had a snack. The city is big enough and even has a metro system. The most fascinating thing though are the bikes. Toulouse like many other big French cities, have public bikes to go around. With 5euros per week, you can ride a bike for half an hour for free and then each hour is about a euro or something. Very good system I believe and I saw many people using it. Most of the big buildings are made of bricks, apparently because there aren’t any quarries close enough. Bridges, churches, town hall and museums are all red.

Reloading the public bikes

Painting on a store

La Garonne

The river from the other side

After a little bit of walking I ended up in the Modern art Museum. Most of it is being renovated at the moment, so nothing special apart from the big permanent exhibits outiside.

The entrance of the museum

The cafe of the museum

Les Abattoirs

Espace d'Art Moderner Contemporain

Then it started raining again. I got soaked and started making my way back to the hostel, graving for some pizza to eat. Luckily I realized there is a very good and cheap restaurant at the hostel, so with only €9 I had a full mean with salad, desert and drink.

Time for sleep now on a soft bed!

It’s been a month now that I am in France and many people told me I should try cassoulet when I get to the south. I had it once in London but of course it would not be the same.

I started making my way to Toulouse early in the morning. I chose to make a small diversion so to join a prettier road. Unfortunately for my legs it had loads of up and downs, but that was the trade off for the scenery I was cycling within.

After about 50km, I stopped at Rieumes for some lunch and rest. After I had a pizza I noticed a cafe with wifi and since I was only 30km from Toulouse I thought I should use the opportunity. The people inside seemed very friendly and kept laughing with my french accent. As I was getting my bike to depart, some of the clients started asking me questions so I told them my story about cycling back home. Then I asked them for a campsite in Toulouse and that’s when the surprise of the day appeared. One of the ladies offered me to go to her place in Plaisance du touch, which is only 10km from Toulouse and pitch my tent in her garder. I could turn down such an offer, so we arrange to meet in the supermarket of the town. I later found out that her son used to do a lot of cycle touring so she knew what I was into. The accommodation, apart from a shower, wifi and a thicker matrice for my tent, also included a 3 course meal that we had along with her friends and a hefty breakfast with home made marmalade. I was glad I had a spare bottle of Bordeaux red wine with me to thank her for treating me like son.

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