Wednesday 10th August

Didn't have to get up too early but the plan was to head out for a picnic with Chiara and some of her friends.  I was ready out to her house at 10:30 where Nichola and Chiara were still waiting for two other friends who were stereotypically rather more flexible with their time keeping.  Just after 11am they arrived so we all got in one car and headed off up the valley on the old road.  I had been up this road before in the snow and I thought it was steep and narrow but I wasn't sure just how much so.  It proved to be rather steep and mapmyride shows it having stretches that are just under a 20% gradient.  Hmm I knew I should have brought a mountain bike as well, there was no way I was going to get up them easily with the gearing on my road bike.

Nice place for a picnic but first up and down the hill

The climb up from where we parked the car wasn't difficult but it did go on for a couple of hours.  We were looking for mushrooms but didn't spot many but we did spot a lot of other wildlife.  A frog, a snake, lots of different types of berries and cows with bells, which sounds very romantic but when there's 50 of them all shaking the flies off it gets a bit noisy.

You get quite a lot of berries to the lb here...

On the way up Nichola and Massimo were proving to us their provenance as maths teachers by using a stick and a rope to work out our latitude.  They were close but one look at my gps screen showed they were a couple of degrees out.  Fair enough though they had attempted this scientific process with a stick and a dog lead.

The view from the top was great

The descent was completed much more quickly than the ascent (I think people were getting hungry) and so once there we found a nice place for the picnic on the small slope and in the sun.  We were later almost greeted by the said cows but they eventually went the other way.

From here we headed south to Cima Grappa (the summit of Monte Grappa).  The road I was checking out to see how rideable it was but once at the top the view was spectacular across the plains and to the sea on a good day.  There were a few paragliders and gliders out playing in the thermals and after spending a little time from the monument watching the clouds evolve quickly above my head I can see why Eugene would have driven here from the UK with his paragliding equipment.

Walking the steps up to the war monument

We spent a little time up there before making use of the cafe for some refreshment and then it was back home down the main road back to Seren.  Again I was checking out this road to see how easy it would be to ride.  The verdict: a challenge.  We'll see.  It starts at my doorstep and if it gets too difficult then it's mostly a coast back down the hill to get home.

Once home we ended up in Chiara's garden where her friends were told to help themselves to the produce.  I know it's good because I've been eating it since I got here.

A tiring but enjoyable day.  Tomorrow up early for another trip....