Tag Archives: cycling

Day 55 – Montagnana to Vicenza

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51km of 3737km so far…

That's warm bread with bacon! A specialty of Montagnana.
That’s warm bread with bacon! A specialty of Montagnana.

I woke up and went back to the old city within the walls for a last wonder around, breakfast and to buy a map. By the time I did all these, the weather turned from a perfect clear sky into a dark overcast, an obvious sign for heavy rain. I didn’t mind at all since I was prepared for it and it was during early cycling hours. On the other hand it made the morning a lot more interesting, as the cloud formations, the thunders and the distant rain made the scenery a lot more spectacular. When the first heavy drops started falling, I found some shelter in a big plant store. Ten minutes later it was hailing and within the next ten minutes it stopped and the sky cleared again. The rain also cleared the morning mist and with the increased visibility I think I could almost see the beginning of the Alps.

Clouds gathering above the walls
Clouds gathering above the walls
Distant rain approaching
Rain approaching
And why not?
And why not?

Today’s destination was Vicenza, which was not far at all. I got there at around 2pm and after a short cycle around the old city I checked in to the hostel, had a shower and went out again. The city has a typical nice old part, with cobble streets, nice plazas and several churches. The hostel this time is a lot better, the €20 euros include breakfast and the owner is very friendly and reasonable enough to let the guests use the internet freely.

No mouth, no ice cream
No mouth, no ice cream
One of the towers in Vicenza
One of the towers in Vicenza
Within one of the churches
Within one of the churches
At the main plaza
At the main plaza

The river crossing the town
The river crossing the town

Next to the town's garden

Next to the town's garden

Day 54 – Rivalta Saint Mincio to Montagnana

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82km of 3686km so far…

The morning dense fog

The morning dense fog

Me and Christoph cycled together to Mantova which is only 10km from Rivalta Saint Mincio. He would spend the entire day there, where I wanted to move on, but instead of going to Verona where I was planning to go and meet Romeo and Juliet, I was convinced to head east toward the little town of Montagnana.
Mantova is a very nice city indeed. It is surrounded by a river and has an old nice city in the center. Maybe I should have spend a extra day there as well to explore it but also get some rest.

Mantova's main square

Mantova's main square

One of the entrances to the old city of Mantova

One of the entrances to the old city of Mantova

The weather was a lot nicer today after the morning fog was cleared and I wouldn’t mind going back to a camp site. But being Sunday with everything closed the easy option was a hostel again that I knew where exactly it is.

-Put me in your living room!

- Put me in your living room!

The only interesting part of today’s ride was the town of Legnago, where I stopped for an ice cream. There is a river just at the border of the town, with a really nice, but short cycle path.

Legnago riverside

Legnago riverside

Three grades of brown

Three grades of brown

I moved on quickly, as I wanted to have plenty of day light light in Montagnana. I got there at around 5pm, unpack my stuff, had a shower and I was out again in an hour. The main point of interest of the town is the medieval castle. It dates from 1400, is surrounded by very tall walls, the best preserved examples of medieval walls in Europe and inside there are many houses, a few churches and of course many restaurants and cafes. I spend a good couple of hours wondering around, before I started getting hungry.

One of the four entrances

One of the four entrances

Montagnana's walls

Montagnana's walls

The wall towers

The wall towers

The main church

The main church

I went to a restaurant for dinner, in desire for some good pasta. Without understanding much of the menu and without paying much attention, I ordered something random from the page where I saw carbonara, thinking that’s the pasta section. But unfortunately it was a pizza. It’s the last three days that I am having pizzas for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Don’t get me wrong, I am in Italy and the pizzas are great here, but it’s a little too much for everyday. I’ve been in so many restaurants and that’s all they have.

The hostel it self was ok, but I was unlucky that its section within one of Montagnana‘s towers was closed. Other than that for €21 is the most expensive one I’ve been so far in Italy. It didn’t have breakfast and they wouldn’t give away their internet to the guests.