If you would like to see details about our journey, check out our itinerary and our bike route.
Another good breakfast and easy start to the day after a good night's sleep. We talked to our host Anna a little while we ate. She and her partner spent two years renovating the guesthouse and have been open about four years. On the walls in the reception/breakfast room were pictures showing how they had taken the building down to the stone walls and wooden beams, and completely rebuilt it. We have met so many hard-working young people on this trip.
Off we went, looking forward to a couple days' of rest at an agriturismo outside Belluno after today's ride.
The agriturismo serves breakfast, and it has a restaurant open for dinner Tuesday-Saturday. But today (Sunday) and Monday, we are on our own for lunch and dinner. We have a little kitchenette with just the most basic utensils. As we cycled through Belluno on our way to the apartment, we stopped for lunch at a little Georgian (the country) restaurant in a tiny mall. (Not much is open in the late afternoon on Sunday.) What a treat! The owner's little boy (the bandito, according to his dad) was playing soccer outside the restaurant, and we passed the ball back to him a few times. The owner explained the food on the menu, and when he served it, he came out and showed us how to eat it (dumplings and a folded-over fried sandwich, both stuffed with ground pork and spices). He told us about leaving Georgia when he was 16; his father took him to Germany to avoid his having to go into the army when Russia attacked Georgia, much as it did Ukraine. Georgia is now an independent country, part of the EU, and he can travel freely, but he has settled in Belluno with his family. An extremely nice and interesting guy.
So that was our introduction to Belluno. We are learning about much more than just ancient Italy. This is a diverse and progressive place.
Next stop, a big grocery store for lunch and supper supplies.
Finally, the 5-mile gentle climb across the river and up the hill to our agriturismo. Which turned out to be very rustic, with a huge old villa that houses our hosts, Luisa and Giovani, and needs work; a stable block that was turned into apartments years and years ago, where we are staying; a rifugio in the old cellar below the stables, where hikers can rest, get fresh water, and even spend the night with a wood stove and refrigerator, for free; a newer guesthouse with a large apartment; some other older buildings including a huge stone addition to the villa that is wrapped in scaffolding and tarps with trees growing out of the windows; and a restaurant. Eccentric. Not exactly clean. But somehow quaint and homey.
We showered, unpacked, and cooked up a pot of pasta that wasn't too bad.
Home, sweet home. For three whole nights.
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| Sundays are photo days at the kennel. It looks like we have a happy girl back at home. Wish I could give her a big hug. |
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| Finally, we have reached the Dolomiti. |
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| At the end of the day, a smooth road through a tunnel of trees. |
