Trip diary (The English version!): Silandro (Val Venosta) - Consandolo (Ferrara)

Day 1 - Wednesday 21st July 2010

Departure Ferrara station

We left by train from Ferrara at 10.50am and after changing at Bologna, Bolzano and Merano, we finally arrived in Silandro in the beautiful Val Venosta at 6.10pm.

Transporting our bikes proved to be quite easy, the only difficulty was getting on and off the first two trains with our bikes and baggage and going down and up the various station underpasses. The price of transporting the bikes was around 10€ each which really wasn't bad - we'd expected to spend more!

After finding our way around Silandro, we found the 'Pensione Pernthaler' and, after a much-needed shower, we had a lovely dinner - goulash with polenta - washed down with a beer.  We followed the meal with a stroll round the town and another beer in an unusual bar (can't remember the name) with tables outside and a grapevine 'roof'!

Bar in Silandro

Day 2 - Thursday 22nd July 2010

The day began with a huge buffet breakfast, savoury for Devid and sweet for me!  Full up, we headed off for the station (without bikes), stopping on the way to buy some bread and fruit for lunch.  We arrived by train in Laces where we then took a cable car up to San Martino in Monte (Laces 639m - SMM 1,740m).

 

View of San Martino in Monte

View of San Martino in Monte

San Martino in Monte

Waterfall San Martino in Monte

Mountain refuge in Egg

It was good to finally escape from the oppressive heat of the valley and breathe some cool air, in particular sat in the mountain refuge in the tiny hamlet of Egg, where we stopped for an ice-lolly and to fill up our flasks.

Our original plan was to return to Silandro by following the footpath down the mountain.  However, we soon had to abandon this idea as the path was right on the edge of the mountain with a rather scary sheer drop down the side - not really a great idea for someone who is scared of heights (Devid)!  Forced to find an alternative route, we followed the road down towards Laces, which never seemed to get nearer!  10 painful km later and having dropped 1,100m we finally arrived at Castelbello, where we took the train back to Silandro.

Castelbello

After returning to Silandro and having a long, cool shower we walked into the centre with extremely painful calves and, in Devid's case, a painful knee.  Following a quick aperitivo we ate dinner and then returned to the bar we'd found the previous night where the barman took pity on Devid and gave him ice for his aches and pains!

Bell tower Silandro

Moon over the mountaintop, Silandro

Day 3 - Friday 23rd July 2010

 First leg: Silandro - Laives 89.5km

Finally on our bikes! After another mega-breakfast we loaded our bags onto our bikes and started out on the cycle path towards Merano.

The two cyclists at the beginning of the adventure!

Sarah on the cycle path

Castle at the start of Val Martello

The route was lovely, partly due to the downhill slope which took us from the 700m altitude of Silandro to the 200m of Merano, but also because of the abundance of apple trees which lined our path through the valley.  Towards the end of this part of the journey, as Devid was later to discover, the steep, winding slope down towards the river and consequent freezing air played havoc with his intestine!  As for me, I decided to pick a fight with the vegetation.  The result?  Judge for yourselves from the photo who came off worst!

Sarah about to blub - nature's victim!!

We said goodbye to Val Venosta and continued towards Bolzano.  Making good progress, we arrived at Gargazzano where a heavy rain shower forced us to take shelter under a bridge.

Rain after Merano

After 70km we found ourselves at the entrance to Bolzano where Sarah had her first 'crisis' which, fortunately, was quickly resolved by a couple of ham rolls and a Coke!  However, minutes later, Devid was having a crisis of his own, which led to a desperate hunt for a bar....with a toilet!

Crossroads at Bolzano

Bolzano centre

Crises resolved, we carried on towards Laives which we only managed to find thanks to the directions of two local kids.  Our hotel (Grunbaum) was in the upper part of the town which meant a final effort but it was certainly worth it - the room was spacious and new, there was an outdoor pool which I used despite the rain, and peace and quiet reigned.

View from our hotel room

The dinner was excellent - 3 courses and unlimited salad bar and finished off with a delicious local dessert ('Scheemilch') made with bread, hazelnuts, sultanas and cinnamon all mixed together into a 'ball' and served with cream and red berry sauce.

After dinner we decided to take advantage of the large balcony to hang out one of the many loads of washing we would do during this trip, given the fact we were 'travelling light' (about 12kg a head).  Unfortunately, the storm that came down during the night didn't help to dry our clothes but made for spectacular viewing.

Clothes drying!

Storm coming - view from balcony

Despite our tiredness due to the many hours pedalling and our aching calves, still hurting from the previous day, it was a great first leg.

Day 4 - Saturday 24 July 2010

  

Second leg: Laives - Trento 61,5km

Today's departure was slightly delayed due to the lovely room, comfortable bed and fantastic breakfast, all of which meant that we didn't set off until 10.20am.  We headed down towards Laives station until we reached a secondary road which led us to the cycle path along the river Adige.  For most of the journey we were helped by having the wind in our favour and this pushed us along the valley, mostly following the course of the river.

Cycle path along the river Adige

Scenery in the Adige valley

Lunchbreak

During this leg we stopped just once, at San Michele all'Adige, to have a banana which gave us energy for the most difficult part of the journey, starting at Lavis.  Here, the confluence of the Avisio with the Adige meant we had to up part of the river, pedalling slightly uphill and with the wind against us - hard work!  Despite this, at 2.20pm we arrived in Trento and relaxed in park opposite the hostel whilst we waited for our room.  The hostel was a really pleasant surprise.  For 21€ each we slept in a small, clean double room with a bathroom big enough to let us do our day's washing!

Laundrette in hostel room

As the photo shows our room became less of a room and more of a laundrette!

We spent the afternoon visiting Trento, which turned out to be a really interesting place and one I'll definitely be going back to in the future!

Trento castle

Mountains behind Trento

Trento centre

Trento centre

Given our meagre lunch we soon began to feel hungry and so at 7pm on the dot we were sitting outside the trattoria Primavera with our dinner in front of us.  I ate a yummy pizza while Devid opted for a plate of speck as a starter, followed by a huge plate of pasta with pesto and cherry tomatoes.

Buon appetito!

After dinner we spent the evening strolling around Trento and the nearby Sant'Apollinare, where a local festival was in progress with live music courtesy of a band from Ferrara with a drummer from Consandolo!  It's certainly a small world!

The Adige at dusk

The moonlit Adige

Once we'd got back to the hostel, exhausted by the long day, I was fast asleep by 10.30pm and Devid was not far behind me!

Day 5 - Thursday 25th July 2010

Third leg: Trento - Arco (Riva del Garda) 56km

We were woken by the alarm at 7am and, following a light breakfast at the hostel, were away by 8.15am.
We were greeted by warm sunshine and, batteries recharged, we followed the cycle path.  After a few kilometres, it brought us to a distinctive 'bicigrill' (like a service station for bikes!) in Nomi, where I thoroughly recommend their tasty brioches!

Bicigrill in Nomi

Devid at the bicigrill

We left the company of the other cyclists at the bicigrill and continued towards Mori, where the cycle path forked.  We followed in the direction of Riva del Garda, leaving behind us the Adige which had kept us company up until then.

Cycling towards Mori

Crossroads towards Riva del Garda

From that point the road was continually uphill, some parts with 10% gradient, until Passo San Giovanni.  Having never really attempted difficult slopes before, I was feeling pretty proud of myself by the time we reached the top!

Phew!  We made it to the top!

On arrival at the summit, seeing the volume of nose to tail traffic heading for the Lake, it was a great feeling of freedom to be on our bikes and enjoy the wonderful view from Nago.

View of Torbole from Nago

Following the steep slope down to Torbole brought us to the chaos of the shores of the Lake.  Sundays at Lake Garda are similar to the beaches of the Riviera Romagnola in summer!

Breaktime!

We escaped towards Arco and our hotel, San Giorgio, where we arrived at 1pm, well ahead of schedule!  We dumped our baggage in our room and immediately set off towards Riva to look for food.  We found a kiosk near the lake and ate a sandwich in the company of hundreds of other people but we didn't linger given the chaos!  Instead we headed back to the hotel to take advantage of the swimming pool there.

Hotel pool

The situation at the hotel was a bit surreal.  The owner told us that we would be the only guests in the hotel as a group staying there had just left.  The lack of other guests made us wonder a bit about our choice of hotel...
Towards 5pm we climbed onto our bikes and headed for Arco to look for an information centre.  We were pleasantly surprised by Arco, a really beautiful little town with a distinctive historic centre overlooked by its castle.

Arco Castle

Once we'd got back to the hotel, it was time for dinner which was a strange experience being the only guests.  The food, although not bad, was nothing to write home about.  We rounded off the evening in Arco, having a beer in a bar in the main square.  Total kilometres cycled, including wandering about in the afternoon and evening, 80!

Day 6 - Monday 26th July 2010

Alarm at 8.45am and breakfast....what a disappointment!  Stale biscuits and cakes which we then found served again the following morning!  There and then we decided that we wouldn't be recommending Hotel San Giorgio in a hurry!

After breakfast we visited Arco castle, which was beautiful but needed a climb up a steep slope to get to.  The climb was made worthwhile by the great views from the top of the castle.

View of Riva from the castle

View of Sarca valley from the castle

Arco castle

Devid at the entrance to the old prison

At the top, we also stopped to admire two free-climbers tackling the mountain where the World Championships will be held in 2011.

Free climbing

After looking at the castle we returned to Arco and stumbled across a machine where you could buy fresh milk and yoghurt, direct from the farm.  We polished off a 250g bottle of yoghurt between us and somehow managed to resist the temptation to buy another!  Then we once more joined the familiar cycle path and went first to Riva and then Torbole, enjoying the relative peace and quiet which had eluded us the day before.

Riva del Garda

Clock tower at Riva del Garda

In the late afternoon we went back to the hotel to enjoy its only good point - the swimming pool!  As for the evening's dinner, we won't even comment!  We spent the evening in Riva where, in a moment of patriotism, I was very excited to see a youth orchestra from Yorkshire performing in the main square!

The East Riding of Yorkshire Youth Orchestra

Alleyway in Riva del Garda

Riva del Garda in the evening

The centre by night

We enjoyed our customary evening beer by the lake before heading back to the hotel to pack our bags ready for our early departure the next day.  Despite not having an official 'leg' in our journey, we managed to clock up 40km by the end of the day!

Day 7 - Tuesday 27th July 2010

Riva del Garda - Sirmione (ferry)

We were woken by the alarm at 7.10am, had the previous day's pitiful breakfast and by 8.30am we were away, bound for Riva to catch the ferry to Sirmione.  We paid our 10.20€ each plus 3.20€ for each bike and relaxed during the journey, admiring the beautiful coast and distinctive towns of the lake.

Ferry

Malcesine from the ferry

Limone sul Garda

Limone sul Garda

We arrived a bit late at Sirmione and with a few drops of rain falling now and again.  With some difficulty, we managed to steer our bikes through the hoards of people filling the port and town centre and headed to our hotel, 'Villa Pagoda' in Colombare di Sirmione (2km from the centre).  Our room was a strange mix of styles but was comfortable and had everything we needed.

Having left our bags at the hotel, we went off to look for food, in the end settling for a supermarket and picnic on a bench.  We spent the afternoon in Desenzano sul Garda before returning to Arco to look for a place to have dinner.

Desenzano sul Garda

At 8.30pm we returned to our chosen restaurant, 'Da Roberto' where we had a pizza before heading back to Sirmione for the rest of the evening.  In the centre there were ice cream shops on every corner and in the end, I gave into temptation and ordered a waffle basket......which cost 7€!!!!  I honestly did not expect to pay that much but then neither did I expect for the basket to be filled with about 500g of ice cream!

Sarah and the mega ice cream!

Sirmione Castle

Sirmione centre

Hotel in town centre

Sirmione by night

Moonlit lake

After the ice cream adventure, we returned to our hotel and said goodnight to our bikes which, once again, had transported us for more than 40km.

Day 8 - Wednesday 28th July 2010

4th leg: Sirmione - Mantova 72km

Alarm at 8.30 am and after our usual hearty breakfast we set off towards Peschiera del Garda at 10.30am.

Peschiera del Garda

Start of Peschiera - Mantova cycle path

From Peschiera we followed the cycle path along the river Mincio.  There were very few people on bikes which was a huge difference compared to the last time we were there, one Sunday a couple of years ago, when the cycle path was crowded.  We'd recommend this part of the journey to anyone who feels like an easy cycle, particular families with children as it's completely flat and well away from traffic.

After about 20km we came across Borghetto, a gorgeous little village full beautiful alleyways and snickets.

Borghetto

Borghetto

Borghetto

Borghetto

At Valeggio sul Mincio we spotted a castle at the top of the hill so set off to have a look.  Getting up the hill was more difficult than I'd imagined as it was a hot day but, after a lot of puffing and panting, we arrived.  Tired and sweaty, I have to say I was not all that impressed with the whole 'visit the castle' experience!!

Castle - Valeggio sul Mincio

View from the castle

After whizzing back down the hill, we continued along the cycle path until we reached a crossroads and, on the advice of a picnicking couple, we decided to take the path for Volta Mantovana.

Crossroads towards Volta Mantovana

Also during this part of the journey I was killed off by heat, hunger and the final uphill slope and so, once we'd arrived, I napped on a bench in the shade while Devid played ball with his new-found friend!!

Sleeping Beauty!

Devid's new friend

Lunch at Volta Mantovana

Once I'd recovered, we found a bar where we sat and enjoyed the shade and refuelled with sandwiches and ice cream.  The rest of the journey flew by without problems and by 5pm we'd arrived in Mantova.

Mantova Castle

As we were too early for our room in the B&B 'Ai Giardini del Tè', we killed time looking round the city.  An hour later and having unpacked our bags, we showered and headed into Mantova for our customary hunt for a place to have dinner.  We settled on the 'Trattoria Leoncino Rosso' right in the centre, where I tried the local speciality of sausage risotto and Devid the home-made macaroni with bean sauce.  We then polished off a large plate of local cold meats and cheeses.  All in all a nice place, good food and honest prices.

Trattoria Leoncino Rosso

We finished off the evening with a quick tour of the city before heading to bed early in preparation for an early start the following day - storms were forecast for the afternoon and so by setting off early, we hoped we would beat them....!

Day 9 - Thursday 29th July 2010

 5th leg: Mantova - Sermide (72km)

As planned, an early wake-up call and departure at 8.30am, without breakfast as this wasn't included in the price of a 1-night stay (how you can call yourself a B&B when you don't offer one of the Bs remains a mystery!)

Before leaving Mantova we had a look at Palazzo Te and then went off in search of the path which leads to the cycle path along the right bank of the river Mincio.  All seemed to be going fine until, suddenly, the path we were on just seemed to come to an end.  We found ourselves face to face with a crumbling building (which we later found out to be an Austrian fortress) which stopped us from continuing.  The alternative was to try going down to the lakeside path, so we gave this a go....until we found ourselves in a wood full of mosquitoes and the path seemed not to be going anywhere!  We quickly turned around and and headed back but not before the mosquitoes had enjoyed a real feast of our bare arms and legs (in particular mine!).  Itching like mad, we managed to find an alternative route, first along a cycle path then, unfortunately, a busy main road until we arrived in Bagnolo San Vito.  There we had breakfast at long last and managed to find the elusive right bank of the Mincio thanks to the directions of a local lad.

Cycla path towards Governolo

The river Mincio

View from cycle path

The journey continued along a narrow track until we arrived at Governolo, where the cycle path crossed over the river and onto the opposite bank.

Cycle path along the river

Sheltering from the raindrops

At Sustinente, we realised that we were no longer following the Mincio but the Po, since the two rivers had joined.  Between one occasional raindrop and the next (but fortunately no storms as yet!) we arrived in Ostiglia, where we bought lunch in a supermarket and then struck gold by finding a park with picnic benches and tables to eat it in.

Park in Ostiglia

Coffee break

After a post-lunch coffee, we crossed the river again and at Revere continued along the right bank of the Po.

View from cycle path

Stretching those aching muscles!

Arrival at Sermide

We passed through several little villages before getting to Carbonara di Po where the river curved round before bringing us to the sign 'Municipality of Sermide'.  We were relieved to see this sign since the storm clouds were starting to gather!

The river Po at Sermide

Just before we arrived in Sermide, the temptation to photograph this unusual cyclist was just too great for Devid to resist!

Nun on the run!

Just after 3pm we arrived in Sermide, found the 'Trattoria Cavallucci' and were shown to our room.  We were thrilled to find a lovely cosy room with a nice big bed, a beautiful bathroom and a decent TV!  What more could we ask for?  We just wanted to shower and relax for as long as possible, so that's exactly what we did.

Hotel room

Hotel room

We eventually went out for a stroll around Sermide and an early dinner (at 7pm) of pizza (2 for Devid!) then an ice cream for me.  By 8pm we were already back in our room!  For the rest of the evening, complete relaxation and just a bit of sadness thinking that the next day would be the last leg of our adventure.

Day 10 - Friday 30th July 2010

6th leg: Sermide - Consandolo (79km)

After a long, long sleep we woke up for breakfast and by 9.30am we were on the road home (sob!).  We passed Ficarolo and, continuing along the right bank of the river Po, we headed towards Bondeno.  At Stellata we stopped to admire its fortress before pressing on with our journey.

Fortress in Stellata

Cycle path

Along the cycle path

We stopped again briefly at Bondeno and then, almost by chance, stumbled upon the 'Burana' cycle path, which neither of us had ever heard of before.  By taking this path we managed to avoid the alternative, which would have meant an extra 10km.  What a find!  The cycle path was really pleasant, with its long tree-lined paths running alonside canals and countryside until finally bringing us to the outskirts of Ferrara.

Devid on the bridge along the 'Burana' cycle path

'Burana' cycle path

Arrival in the Municipality of Ferrara

Ferrara!!

We stopped there for lunch, a typical dish of.......burger, chips and ice cream, courtesy of Mr McDonald!!  Well, we thought it would be best to eat light before our final last effort towards home!  Before heading for Consandolo we couldn't not do the tourist bit and visit the historic centre of the city.  It was a weird sensation cycling with our baggage along streets we'd already visited thousands of times before but only ever on foot.

In front of Ferrara Cathedral

via San Romano

After finishing our mini-tour of Ferrara, we decided to head for home via Via Fabbri but, unfortunately, the level crossing was closed due to roadworks, so we had no choice but to do a few kilometres of the main road (S.S. 16) until Fossanova San Marco.  From there on, we continued with no major difficulties except for my low morale - a) the idea of going home and b) cycling against the wind were not particularly motivating factors!  We passed through all the villages seen so many times before from the car, stopping now and then to stretch our legs and aching muscles.  At Benvignante we seized a photographic opportunity - its 'Delizia Estense' and then pressed on down the home straight....

Delizia di Benvignanate

We arrived triumphantly in Consandolo at 3.30pm with Devid's mum to greet us and take photos of the two proud adventurers!

Arrival at our destination!

At that moment, with the sensation of more than 500km in our aching legs and so many beautiful places imprinted in our minds we felt a real mixture of emotions - pride, tiredness and a just tinge of sadness that it was all over.  However, the most important thing for both of us was the knowledge and satisfaction of having had a truly unique and unforgettable holiday!