Traveling Applejax

We’ve been on the road for two days now, not counting our initial jaunt from the airport. Our butts are breaking in the saddles (or maybe it’s the other way around) and we’re soaking up the sunshine (seriously — we’ve had to apply sunblock multiple times a day). Aside from being a little windy, the weather has been beautiful. We’ve been biking northeast toward Slovenia.

This part of Italy is pretty flat, crisscrossed with rivers, full of small towns, and covered with farms in between. There are tons of grapes (although none are as far along as our backyard grapes). We also see lots of poppies and adorable houses and rundown stone barns.

Last night we stayed at a very nice B&B we found through AirBnB. Everything was lovely and far fancier than we can afford on a regular basis, but I had a dire need of reliable wifi for the evening. Anyway, the B&B had goats, a lovely homemade farm breakfast, and super-awesome hosts (Claudio and Monica). It wasn’t in a city, so we took the hosts’ advice and borrowed their bikes (since ours were loaded with gear) to go to dinner at a nearby seafood place. Our Italian is a little shoddy, so we didn’t know exactly what we were ordering, but we ended up with a fabulous two-course meal consisting of a seafood salad and a pasta dish with mussels. I don’t think I’ve ever had mussels before, but they were fabulous! Like the accommodations, the dinner was a bit above our pay grade, but it was worth it.

Today we stuck to the budget a bit better. We got a late start due to necessary bike repairs and adjustments, so we only went about 35 miles. We bought groceries to have a simple lunch and dinner, and we’re staying at a campsite in the town of Aqualeia tonight. That’s going to be a more typical day, I think.

We still haven’t figured out where we’ll be tomorrow night, but we’re heading in the general direction of Slovenia. Maybe we’ll be there tomorrow, maybe not. We’ll keep everyone updated after the fact.