80km of 3281 so far…

miam miam miamm....

I still have trouble finding a bakery with croissants or something similar, so today’s breakfast was two big pieces of creamy pie with stuff full of calories in it. I think I’ve said it before, but food in big quantities is one of the pleasures of cycle touring and probable the main expense.
Once again I followed the costal road to the north east to go to Genova. Until midday I was going up and down the rocky hills by the sea side, but the effort was paid off by the outstanding scenery. The road at times was curved on the side of massive rocks and for most of the time I was cycling next to high cliffs.

Last day cycling by the west coast of Italy

Many bridges mean flat roads, which I am happy for.

My lunch stop was at Savona, which is an industrial city and it also has a big port for transporting goods. It also has an old fortress where I spend some time to wonder around and admire the view from the top.

The fortress of Savona, in between factories and the port

In the fortress

Houses with massive fireplaces

Many things that make other things.

Big, big port

This time I managed to get to my destination before 5pm, to ensure the tourist office would still be open. I wanted to stay in a hostel, as a camp site would probable have been outside the big city. When I asked where it is and how can I get there, they said I have to catch a bus, because it’s too hard on a bike. After my surprise of how hard can it be after cycling across the continent, I think I asked her way too many questions. She wrote the name of the street and the bus number, in which of course I couldn’t put my bike and she shut her window. Great! I forgot to mention Genova is by the sea, but the majority of the city is build on the hills around the port. Both times that I had to ask for directions, they told me to keep going up all the way and wished me good luck. It was indeed a very steep climb that lasted at least half an hour. I am surprised and happy that my knee didn’t complain about it. Genova is very densely build, even on the slopes of the hills, with small roads packed with cars and buses that can barely fit to turn. I decided to stay for two nights and get some rest before going above the mountains towards Milano, so I locked my bike in the hostel and bought a 24 hours bus ticket, so I don’t have to climb this road again.
I had a shower and did my massive laundry, before I went to the town center again for food hunting. I was very lucky to come across that bar that had a super offer for a drink and unlimited buffet which succesfully filled my stomach. 6 euros very well spend!

The view of Genova from the hostel

Plaza Raffiaele De Ferrari

Genova by night

The entrance to a building of the old city

91km of 3201km so far…

First morning in Italy and just after I packed my bike, I started looking for the equivalent of a boulangerie to get my breakfast. I didn’t find exactly what I had in mind, but one of the delicatessen I went in had some fantastic pies, so I bought a couple along with a piece of pizza. From now on croissants will be replaced by pizzas and baguettes by focaccia, which I don’t mind at all.
San Remo has an old city as well, so I spend some time wondering around its nice alleys. They are similar with the ones in France, but in these ones the houses are connected together with small bridge like supports.

The old city of San Remo

Its main church

I left the city and by accident I joined the costal cycle path that runs for about 20km. I have to say it is probable one of the best I’ve been so far in terms of construction, simply because it is build on top of an old rail track. That means it is completely flat and even if the car road has to go above hills, the cycle path is going within tunnels. It also has emergency phones and picnic areas with running water every kilometer. And all these are by the coast, so what else can you ask?

A tunnel just for bikes and pedestrians

Imberia

That's Cervo in case you missed the sign

I went through many towns and villages and most of them had a similar atmosphere and an old part wit small alleys. It was one of them though, where I found something very interesting. In Laigueglia, there was a wall in one of the squares that was covered with little hand painted tiles and each one carried a name and a signature. There were also loads of lockers connected one to each other. I tried to find out what is the story behind it, but unfortunately the young people I asked didn’t speak English, so I only understood that the tiles are made by famous people and the lockers are put there by lovers to symbolize that their love is locked or something.

Just a section of the wall

Many amores

I continued north-east by the coast again until I got to Finale Ligure, where I looked for a camping to pitch my tent.There were a few around the area, but I chose the one with the less starts. The guys gave me a discount without even asking and he was happy to give me the password for his wifi. This is just the second time I have free wifi in a camping, so not a bad choice at all.

A very nice day indeed, nice and warm but not hot

At Finale Ligura

The original carbonara