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March 22 Wednesday Bicycle touring Italy from Lake Vico Italy to somewhere around Lake Bolsena Italy Well, today is the second day of spring and it's none too warm for bicycle touring. The wind was having an extravaganza with our cycle touring tent's fly. When I poked my head out of the tent, the leafless treetops were swaying crazily together like an out of control kaleidoscope. Needless to say, I ducked back inside for a couple more hours of shut-eye. Incredibly, tiny Lake Vico had whitecaps swirling around. I found out the lakes we have seen so far are round because they are volcanic in origin -- the water is sitting in the caldera. It was a tough climb on our fully loaded touring bicycles up the side and out of the extinct volcano this morning. More lava, please. Get this. On the way out, grunting up on our suddenly very heavy touring bikes, a smattering of snowflakes fell. But I managed to convince myself they were white blossoms blown off the trees. Cold white blossoms. Yeah, right. After climbing Mount Cimini it was a downhill bike ride to Viterbo. We made a bank stop. While in Viterbo, a couple came walking along, and asked us wide-eyed, "Is that a Canadian flag?" "Uh, why yes it is," I respond. They are originally from Vancouver, but they're presently in living in Sydney Australia, where they left six days ago for Rome.They're on their way to Barcelona to meet their daughter who has been traveling around Asia and Europe for the past year. Sharon and I cycle over to the tourist office to gather information on the province which is also named Viterbo. We made another stop to buy bread. A young fellow behind the counter, upon learning I was English-speaking, said to me, "I am Italian boy." Of course, I responded with, "I am Canadian boy." This statement brought much merriment to all concerned. The price of oranges has risen after the free ones at Bruno and Iole's from their Sardinian orchard. Bruno said they get paid 200 lira a kilo ... oranges are selling for 2500 lira a kilo. We get about three oranges per kilo. Kind of heavy food for cycle touring, but they sweet, juicy, and delicious. We saw a roadside truck selling oranges out of the back, so we pulled our touring bikes to a stop to buy some, but the farmer said he only sold them by the crate. He did give us each a free one, though. We ate lunch at a public garden in Viterbo, beside a pond for ducks, geese, and swans. The wind was bitterly cold. In fact, a brief snow flurry had enough flakes to convince me it wasn't blossoms. We have stopped laughing at people wearing scarves and parkas. March can be a little chilly for bicycle touring in Italy, even for Canadians. We cycled a scenic route, almost to Marta, then double backed to rejoin Hwy 2 at Montefiascone. Sharon, from perusing our information material, wants to see a church and its artworks in Orvieto tomorrow. We had a great view of Lake Bolsena from the top rim. We are free camped in a small forest by a power tower. Birds are chirping away. Again, the natural surroundings make me think this could be anywhere in North America. I am still amazed at how much open land there is in the Italian countryside. It is not what my preconceived notion of Europe was when we left home to bicycle tour here. |
