Chiavari was a pleasant surprise. Behind the (very Italian populated) resort front was an interesting old town, characterised by a grid of arched Roman walkways and cobbled alleyways. We left Chiavari and cycled back up into the hills. The first couple of kilometres was about a 10% gradient and was very tough, especially before getting warmed up properly. Thereafter the 'cycle path' we followed took us through various woods on tracks that were, for the most par...

Not the best night's sleep. The street disco under our balcony was pumping out music until the early hours (with hindsight, it might have been best to get back up). ----------------------------------- An excellent and totally unplanned day. We ditched the overnight idea of heading south and decided to head SW towards Sestri Lavante, via Varese Ligure, but, in practice, the road was a bit bigger than we wanted so when we saw a small road, heading up towards a p...

Our first impression of the mountains are good... In the event, it was another long hot day in the saddle. This time much more scenic though. We followed a river valley up into the foothills of the Apennines and stopped cycling for the day when we reached the village of Borgo Val Di Taro. As luck would have it, we appear to have arrived on the day of the Borgo Val Di Taro's annual music and wine festival. The streets are a-throng with people listening and danci...

In Ferrara (pictured), they were in the middle of their annual Festival of Buskers, and last might the streets and squares of the Old Town were full of all sorts of street artists. There were bands, soloist singers, jazz, opera etc. There were various odd acts too, like a hillbilly band doing a version of Smoke on the Water. There were artists, caricaturists, tarot card readers (5) along with various other odds and sods. Along with big crowds, it all made for a v...

We made a big dent in our attempt to reach the mountains as soon as possible. Around about 100 miles got us from Venice to Ferrara (via Padua, Dei Colli Euganei national park, Monselice, Lendinara and Occiobello). Both of us got 'a touch of the sun' and were 'feeling it' a bit in the last 20 or 30 miles - a bit headachy. This was probably due to the fact that we just couldn't push any more water and electrolytes (and flap jacks) down our necks. It was very hot (...