22 May 2019: Civitavecchia to Fregene: Mileage: (39/387)



Fregene is the closest town north of Fiumicino Airport. The ride down the coast was busy in spots, lots of vehicle traffic, with occasional views of the the Tyrrhenian Sea, part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenian people, identified since the 6th century BCE with Etruscans of Italy.

Historically the Roman aristocracy built summer villas along this coast, from Civitavecchia to Napoli (Naples). Numerous apartment/condo complexes line major stretches of the coast, with many in questionable condition.

I had a slight headwind, but it was mostly flat with a few short climbs. The ride, with a stop for coffee, was 4 hours. I checked into ITACA Bed & Breakfast, had another coffee, explored the coast, ate lunch, packed my bike (hope it's under 50#), showered, and will enjoy the sea view and mid-60s temps for one more day.

I tried to check in for my flight, but the Delta ticket number and booking number does not work with their Partner, Alitalia. I called Alitalia, the USA office, and when they could not resolve it, just said go to the airport and check-in there.

Coastal views:



Typical Summer Condos/Apartments.  Given the cool and rainy weather, few people are about other than those doing maintenance.

ITACA. View from my room, pool and the Tyrrhenian Sea

ITACA Room. Quite spacious, clean, and well-equipped. I have a taxi booked for the 11 mile drive to the airport, 30 euros. I could bike it, but I prefer carefully and leisurely packing everything here.

Sorry, no Dog of the Day. I spotted good candidates, a woman holding 4 identical dogs on leashes, but I was not ready with my camera.

Moon Rocks on the Beach? Curious to see a fine black sand beach with scattered, smooth, round stones.

 Just a short walk from the ITACA Guest House, beach views south and north.

ITACA Guest House, front and back.



The sun sets on our Italian Bike Tour.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

16 May 2019: Spello to Todi (Mileage: (38/170)

Image
Close to our actual route. We diverted to a sports store, but not far from this route. Finally, the typically beautiful Spring weather we and the locals expect—mid-50s(F) at the start and upper 60s by mid afternoon. We had a lovely but limited conversation with the Italian woman at our Spello lodging. No English on her part, but we coped. On arrival, the internet did not work. I ended up providing tech support by unplugging her modem and restarting. In the morning, I went down to take her photo and found she was an artist with a studio full of paintings, complete with a white studio cat. Rather than take the Ciclismo Classico route, because they had a stop to watch paper being made, we followed the maps.me route back toward Assisi, then southwest to Todi. We had a short climb out of Spello, then a long descent. The early route was through rural fields, small villages, and often paralleling the E45 expressway (Autostrada toll road). Their description on cycling to Todi was: Sl...
Read more

9 May 2019: Vatican CIty, Vatican Museums, Saint Peter's Square & St. Peter's Basilica

Image
Yes, it's a bike trip, but not yet. Our bikes remain in their cases, as Rome is not particularly bike friendly for two Americans on their first trip to Rome. Train Tips A friend recommended "train line.eu" as a handy app to book train tickets by phone, avoiding often confusing ticketing machines and lines in the train stations. Our experience in Italy has been that their offerings are limited, often showing "Not available" or "Sold out". Rick Steves recommended "trainitaly" in Italy, and we found that tickets were available for the "Not available" or "Sold out" trains. Our tickets are booked to Pesaro for 9:28 Friday morning. Vatican City Our Metro trip to Vatican CIty was the easiest part of our day. Upon emerging from the Metro, a tour  booker  (?) approached us, persuading us that a 56 euro tour was our only option. She was right. Even at 9 am, the crowds were huge. Unlike many museums where ticket sales are lim...
Read more

23 May 2019: Travel Day—Rome>Amsterdam>Minneapolis>Bozeman: Mileage: (0/387)

Image
I'm starting today's post from the Delta Sky Club in Minneapolis. I had everything packed and organized this morning, sufficient time for two expresso on the Krups capsule machine while waiting for my taxi to Fiumicino Airport. I considered biking there, but a 1 hour ride and packing would require an earlier start, leave me sweaty on arrival, and anxious while packing—not worth the trouble. I sailed through check-in in 25 minutes and had an hour before early boarding. While a bit difficult to locate, the Alitalia Lounge was just a 10-minute walk from my gate. Nothing like having a barista on staff. I had a smooth transit through Amsterdam, on-time landing in Minneapolis, then Nancy called, even before the flight display was updated, saying the Bozeman flight is delayed. Now my 9:30 pm Bozeman arrival is closer to midnight, if at all.  Alitalia Barista. Christopher marveled at non-predatory Italian pricing. An expresso pulled on a quality machine usually cost abo...
Read more