Boungiorno!

Kilometers cycled so far: 7886

Hello from Rome! Here's this month's highs and lows...

Corsica:

The day I was due to leave Marseille I met a kiwi named Craig who was also on a cycling tour and heading for Corsica. So we decided to hook up for a few days and cycle together. We caught the ferry to Ajuccio (birth place of Napolean) and did a short tour south.

The island is amazing with a very diverse landscape of beautiful clear beaches, high mountains and lush forests all within a small area. It was great weather and we camped pretty much everywhere. We broke up the cycling with a rest day to do a spot of hiking, before heading to Bonifacio to catch the ferry.

Sardinia:

Our run of fine weather ended the day we got here and we got soaked in the first couple of hours on the road and there was a killer head wind for the rest of the day. We managed to make it to Alghero where we met up with Sarah (an Irish friend) who was on a painting/drinking holiday with some mates. Thanks for putting up with us, Sarah!

Craig and I parted ways the next day as he headed towards northern Italy and I bummed around Alghero for a couple of days while we had a little more bad weather. The weather cleared I headed south to Cagliari but was a couple of days early for the ferry. So I waited out the two days a little out of town, camping by the beach - yep, it's tough life....

Sicily:

I arrived in Palermo and was met by an ex-collegue Susie, who was there for a weekend break. So it was nice to have someone to be a tourist with. We just walked around this very pleasent city, went to the beach, drank coffee, ate some fantastic food and watched Ireland get knocked out of the world cup. We couldn't find an Irish pub to watch the game, Palermo must be the only european city which doesn't have one.

I left Palermo heading east and it was around this time that the hot weather started to really kick in - most days were in the high thirties. Sicily was hilly and I was feeling it during some of the longer hill climbs in the heat of the day. But I managed to stay hydrated (upping my water consumption to over 8 litres a day) and went just to the north of Mt Etna. Mt Etna was big, but not that spectacular, but the surrounding country was beautiful. It was nice to get back to the coast and the cooling sea breaze.

Southern Italy:

After catching the short ferry trip across to the Italian mainland I cranked it up and headed north-west along the coast. Again, there was some really beautiful areas (coast roads clinging to the side of a mountain) a lot of which had relatively low tourist development. I had a nice cycle, swim and camp routine going as I made my way to Naples.

On my way to Napes I called in at Paestrum, the ruins of 3 Greek temples dating from 6th century BC. Fairly touristy, but an awesome site, well preserved and resonably priced - gets my thumbs up. I pushed on to Napes passing through Pompei (but not stopping to see the old city - one set of ruins was enough for the day) and to the south of Mt Vesuvious.

Naples was mad and it took a lot of concentration to not get hit by a swerving Vespa or Fiat Panda. Naples was a bit of a let down - apart from the tiring pace, it was really dirty and felt very dodgy. But, like everywhere else I've been to so far in Italy, the food was fantastic. Also while I was here I checked out the the Archeological museum which had loads of sculptures and some beautiful mosaics which were pulled out of Pompei.

From here I cranked it up and cycled to Rome in two days. But it wasn't all smooth riding because at the end of the first day I came a cropper in a dark tunnel (I think I hit the curb - not sure). The damage to me was pretty minor but I managed to buckle the front wheel in a big way (almost folded that sucker in half). But with some percussive maintenance I managed to got the bike ridable and wobbled to the next big town to get a new wheel. The approach to Rome was a breeze compared to Naples, I was in the city before I knew it, so my first impression was good.

For me, Rome lives up to every bit of the hype. I spent yesterday walking around the city, visiting the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and Palatin hill and a multitude of picturesque piazzas. Then watched the world cup final over lunch and topped off the afternoon with a walk to Piazza Garabaldi which offers one of the best views of Rome. And finally topped of the day with another fantastic meal.

So I plan to spend tomorrow checking out the Vatican and then I'll be heading towards Florence and Milan where I meet Simon (a Swiss ex-collegue) to do the Milan to Zurich leg of my tour. So, I won't be home for a while yet...

Cheers,
Rob.