Friday, November 11, 2016 | Italy – Province Imperia, San Stefano al Mare | Petra
AUTUMN AT RIVIERA DEI FIORI
TAKE THE BIKE TO SAN REMO
October is drawing to an end and we are lucky with the weather and also with our technology.
The enduro is running again, for our housing technology we get full power with four new gel batteries and the upper back light of our truck shines like a Christmas tree.
Each problem solved is a cause for celebration and so there is party atmosphere on board of our truck. Thanks to everybody, who helped with hands and deeds. Grazie mille!
Only the fantastic weather at the coast of Liguria betters our cheerfulness on top of it all. After we have picked up our enduro at autumnly Alba we continue our route along the Riviera dei Fiori, the Italian Riviera of Flowers. We are very curious about the bigger and smaller villages around here.
At placid San Stefano al Mare we spend some days at the local camper parking at the marina with the beach in front of our door. It is Thursday noon and the parking is almost vacant. The sea is as blue as the sky, the sun is shining and it is warm. An angler ist patiently waiting for a good haul.
Something we don’t know: Next Tuesday there is a holiday in Italy and children don’t have to go to school. That’s why it doesn’t take a long time until we park tightly packed with many other happy campers for a long weekend. Everybody wants to enjoy the fantastic October weather. This also means many options for a small talk.
We are happy to park here on the cheap camper parking, there is hardly a camp site left along the whole coast. Again we were lucky!
Every day we take our bikes for a ride on the bikeway Pista Ciclabile Del Ponente Ligure | www.pistaciclabile.com sometimes to one direction, sometimes to the other. It goes past next to our place. 24 kilometers bike- and walkway are laid out along the former railroad tracks at the coast from San Lorenzo al Mare via San Remo to Ospedaletti. A lot of tiny villages with its beaches, bars and ristorante invite bikers and walkers to stay. We are escorted by delicate bloom of jasmin and the blue sea. It so beautiful.
We take a final look at the beautiful city of San Remo before we move on to France four days later.
Ciao, bella Italia!
LET’S TAKE A REST
During our long stay in the North of Italy among others we get clear about one thing. Lunch time is sacred. It takes at least two hours and it never ever get cancelled. During this time every shop and every business is closed apart from big supermarkets, bars and restaurants. Sorry, we’re closed!
We never get really used to it during our excursions. Either we are too early for shopping and the restaurant is open, shops are closed. Or we are too late for lunch, the shops will be open soon but the restaurants will be closed in a minute. We have to laugh at ourselves about our typical German daily rhythm, which is not useful here in Italy.
Apart from this we learn, that after a decent lunch break good ideas often present themselves. This is how it happened at the workshop of Signor Sicari. Before lunch it looks like if our new gel batteries are of the wrong size and have wrong pols on the completely wrong side. After lunch Signor Sicari has the solution ready and everything fits. Perfetto!
