Two weeks of fabulous riding in Italy's Maremma and Veneto

It's long overdue, this post. I mean more than just overdue, as I'm getting close to leaving Europe once again and haven't even started to write about the good times I've had over the past three weeks or so. But it's hard to tear yourself away from riding bikes, lazing in the sun, drinking wine, throwing something yummy on the barbecue, and drinking more wine. And let's not forget the ice-cream, either.

I arrived in Munich sometime around the very end of May, on the 29th, to be exact. The first few days were taken up with playing bike shop--cleaning my own bikes that I keep with Sabine, assembling the gravel grinder that I had brought along for her (my old Morati titanium cyclocross bike), and helping her son, Jona, get his commuter bike back to rolling with a few parts that I had smuggled into the EU. And then we had to pack the Skoda for our planned trip to Italy. For me that's easy: I just put all my crap into a big duffle bag and worry about the bikes and a few spare parts. As always, we took way too much stuff along.

Heading out of Bavaria and into Austria

The plan was to arrive on Monday, June 3, in Ansedonia, a tiny village in Tuscany's coastal region, the Maremma. I had booked a 10-night stay in an AirBnB several weeks beforehand, an actual improvement of our usually procrastinated modus operandi. The driving distance from Freising to the Maremma is about 400 miles or so, and about half of that is on roads that are much smaller and slower than an interstate, so we had decided beforehand to split the drive into two days. We left on Sunday at a reasonable time (hey, this is vacation, so why stress?) and took the German autobahn southwest to Garmisch Partenkirchen; soon thereafter we crossed into Austria and then Switzerland.

Picturesque to the max in Guarda, Switzerland

The weather was pleasant, and our chosen route avoided all autobahn-like roads because of the steeep tolls that are associated with them. (In Italy you pay for the distance you drive; in Austria and Switzerland you have to buy a timed pass for a week or ten days or longer, regardless of how few miles you may actually spend on the fast roads.) Traffic was light, the weather was gorgeous, and we had a wonderful drive through the still-snowy Alps. Shortly before the posh Swiss St. Moritz, in Guarda, we took a break and explored the tiny village that could be the backdrop for any Sound of Music production.

St. Moritz, Switzerland

Lake Como, Italy

Onward we drove, finally arriving on the shores of Lake Como, where I had booked a freebie room in the Sheraton--nothing like credit card bonuses. We had dinner in a lake-side pizzeria and slept well after the long drive. On Monday morning we continued our trip, this time driving a lot of autostrada, which, despite tolls, is pretty much of a cluster around cities such as Padua or Bologna.

Crossing through northern Italy ...

... and finally arriving at our AirBnB in Ansedonia

Never mind, we made it just fine, staying relaxed and off the gas (with gasoline costing a bit over six bucks a gallon you really don't feel like speeding). By late afternoon we arrived in Ansedonia, in the Via de la Mimosa, where our AirBnB hosts Guisy and Luciano (who reside in Rome) were waiting for us to introduce us to the house. And what a cool place it was: From both our breakfast terrace as well as the observation/happy hour deck we had a fabulous view of the Mediterranean and Monte Argentario as well as several islands (when there wasn't too much humidity in the air). Secure private parking, a beautiful garden, full kitchen, a Weber gas grill, an extra outside fridge with freezer for our stash of food that we'd buy at the local COOP supermarket, private outdoor sun shower (as well as sun lounges out of view from the rest of mankind but with a view of the sea)--damn, this place was a steal for $110 a night, all fees included.

I had chosen our domicile because of its location (and, of course, amenities) close to the sea yet also with good road access to the hinterland. The idea was to explore lots of the local secondary and tertiary roads on our road bikes, and that we did. Every day (almost--I think we had one off day) we'd either start our rides from the house or go for a short drive, park the car, and follow a route that we had mapped out with my favorite phone app, Locus. There were flat riders and hilly rides, short ones and longer ones. Compared to our two forays into Tuscany a few years back there was definitely less suffering and more enjoyable rolling as not every road went up and up to a hilltop city. The Maremma is definitely different from central Tuscany.

Exploring the coastal region and Monte Argentario, and then taking a little break harborside in Porto Santo Stefano

A few rides stand out. For example, on our first day we rode to Orbetello and then across the natural causeway to what once was an island, formed by Monte Argentario. In a counterclockwise direction we followed a tiny paved road to a saddle high above the Mediterranean, stopping time and again for photo ops of beautiful bays and impressive villas of the rich. This place is gorgeous! On the other side we came back down, overlooking the lagoon and the Maremma stretching inland. In Porto Santo Stefano we parked the bikes harborside and had a very Italian lunch right on the quai, with fancy sailboats and fishing vessels meters away. The ochers and siennas of the buildings hugging the natural harbor gave it all that Italian feel that good tourist brochures will exude, just much, much better.

Another memorable ride was the one that took us to the late Niki de Saint Phalle's Tarot Gardens (Giardino dei Tarocchi). What a weird yet mesmerizing and beautiful place. I had seen some of her sculptures during my travels, never really paying much attention to who she was but just enjoying the whimsical fountains at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, among others. And here, in the middle of olive groves and gently flowing hills just a few miles away from the Mediterranean, she had built her own little kingdom, a retreat that defies description. If you ever find yourself in the area, this is a must-see.

Other excursions took us on rides around the sulfur springs of Saturnia, where after a relatively short yet very hilly 32-mile loop we joined the crowd that frolicked in the natural springs.The travertine terraced pools reminded me of my long journey through Turkey more than 40 years ago when I experienced similar baths in Pamukkale. We lounged in the waters for hours.

While riding, we had seen posters advertising the Street Music Festival in Manciano, one of many medieval cities that dot the landscape. So, once again we went for a beautiful long loop ride and then changed into presentable clothes that we had in the parked Skoda and enjoyed live bands and street food. And what would Italy be without its gelati? I don't know how often we'd stop at one of the ubiquitous ice cream shops and have a sinful refreshment. Boy, those Italians know how to put the cream into ice cream!

And then it was time to leave our pretty place in Ansedonia and head north, into the Veneto, the region west of Venice and north of the river Po. On the way to our AirBnB in Borso del Grappa we stopped for a bit of sightseeing in Bassano del Grappa, which has an incredibly picturesque city center that could serve as the setting for any movie that plays during the times of the medieval Republic of Venice. You really have to visit the place--no, the entire region!--to grasp its beauty.

Ciao, Ansedonia ...

Ciao, Bassano del Grappa 

Ciao, Veneto

We enjoyed the area so much that we tacked on an extra, fourth, night to our stay. We totally lucked out with the weather with the exception of the morning when we rode up north into the Brenta valley and got sprinkled on (before things cleared up again for the return ride back to the car). Shortly after I had booked our house in the Veneto I had read a very interesting account in Peleton magazine about a ride up Monte Grappa. We were located just at the bottom of this massive mountain, which played a pivotal role in World War I when Italian patriots stopped the invasion from the north and thus prevented Italy from falling under foreign rule. In those battles, 15,000 young Italian men and 12,000 Austrians lost their lives, just on Monte Grappa. It would be interesting to hole up here with a few good historical tomes and learn more about the past--and maybe get fit enough to climb those 15% ramps up Monte Grappa, which rivals Mont Ventoux in many ways. Well, not this time.

I feel really privileged to have had the opportunity to ride in so many wine-growing regions of the world. Provence, the Uco Valley, Napa and Sonoma, Tuscany, Burgundy, you name it, and now we found ourselves at the epicenter of Prosecco! Just like in the Maremma, our average speed for our rides was painfully slow (on paper) because of all of the slowing down and then starting up again for all those photo stops. The fact that one sees bike riders everywhere attests to the popularity of the Veneto for cycling fans.

In the heart of the Prosecco region

On the way back to Germany (crossing the Brenner near Sterzing, off the auto strada/autobahn) we stopped by a tourist office and picked up a detailed guide for the 500+ km bike route from Munich to Venice. Maybe one of these days.... We wouldn't be the first ones to make the trip as there are hordes of riders on packed bikes (lots of them e-bikes) heading south across the Alps. Cyclo tourism is alive and well in this part of Europe.

And so, a week ago last Monday, our 2019 trip to Italy finally came to an end with a beautiful drive through the Alps, passing through Innsbruck, skirting the Starnberger See, avoiding any travel delays in Munich, and finally rolling back into Freising. While sorting through the photos that I took during those two weeks yesterday I thought to myself: Wow, this was an amazing trip!

The Brenner Autobahn's 777-meter long Europabrücke just outside of Innsbruck

Stay tuned for another update with an account of our bike riding in Bavaria.

Jürgen