81km of 4198km so far…

I was very happy to found out the hostel’s breakfast was a ‘help your self buffet’ and rather rich, which means I ate loads.

From Ravenna to Ancona is about 160 kilometers, so I’d have to cover the distance in two days. The only hostel I could find though is in Rimini, 60km away and not exactly in the middle. So I knew I had plenty of time to go there on an easy pace. Saying this, I didn’t have much choice, as half way through the day, the head wind became stronger making me go slow anyway.

Dead carousel

For the first hour, I was riding on the main road which goes parallel with the coast. That was very busy though and I really needed to abandone it. The coast at this part of Italy is full of resort cities, so I just looked for the smaller roads which are closer to the beach. As in most of the cases, resort towns are deserted during the winter months, so it was a little strange cycling within them. Most of the beaches were private, which I find wrong and it took me a long time until I found a small passage to access the sea and have my lunch.

By the empty beach

I bet this was packed two months ago

Nice little boat at Cervia

Knocking down a house is fun, but someone will have to sweep

I got to Rimini at around 4pm, located the hostel, left my bags and went back to the city and have a look. Rimini has many Roman relics, most of them under the city. So in many areas there are glass windows on the ground, from where you can see the excavated remaining of the old city. It also have a nice castle, where an exhibition was taking place, but didn’t go in as it has an entrance fee and it was too late.

A church with a strange wall

The second biggest square at Rimini

and the castle

I went back to the hostel to cook and have an early night in, as tomorrow I will have to ride the last 100 kilometers of this journey.

103km of 4117km so far…

I ate the very rich hostel breakfast of one piece of bread and a marmalade and left Bologna. Of course on the way I stopped at a bakery to buy something a little more filling. It’s the first time I am having it, but this filo pastry, with cheese, ham and spinach was superb.

Today the weather was once again very cold, but while cycling and wearing the right clothes I was feeling ok. The ride was a little bit uninteresting in terms of scenery.The road was flat all the way, full of farm land and some mountains on my far right. Unfortunatelly I had a head wind making things a lot harder and on top of that my knee started hurting again. I was in a good mood though, as I know I am approaching my final destination very soon.

My first stop was in Lugo, where there is a nice old castle. The rest of the city looked a little bit deserted, but maybe that was because of the time. In Italy most of the shops and restaurants are shut between 1pm to 4 pm, I guess for their afternoon siesta which I think is a good thing.

From there it didn’t take long enough to cycle to Ravenna, where I spend the night. Unfortunately it’s already mid Octomber, which means it now gets dark by 6:30pm. So by the time I found the hostel, checked in and went back to the city center, it was already dark, so too late for many photos. For what it wasn’t late though, was to go to a restaurant and have a nice pasta Bolognesse. I know I am having it with one day delay, but it was still very good and it will probable make me pedal faster tomorrow.

Ravenna by night