After a very nice evening with my friends in Brescia, it’s time to head back home. Instead of choosing another selection of small road across the Alps, for today I chose to try a recently-built stretch of Autostrada that will take me to Milan quicker and with less traffic…and with a much better road surface. We say our good-bye’s and off I go, promising to be back soon! The motorway is as free as expected. I get TW560 into a truck’s slipstream and settle into a 1h20 drive to Milan. The road surface and the Pianura being flat brings my […]
TDI2019 Day 11 – La Spezia -> Brescia
Today’s trip to Brescia is going to be a full mix of landscapes – saying goodbye to the sea, crossing the Apennines and onward across the Pianura. For this I get up very early as I’ve planned to drive along some very small and interesting single-lane roads, exploring rural Italy away from any main roads. From La Spezia, driving northwards, I immediately start climbing towards the Apennine. And the views to be seen are really worth the never-ending hair-pin bends on less-than-ideal road surfaces. The further back the valley I get, the less tarmac the road surface is made of. […]
TDI2019 Day 10 – Terni -> La Spezia
Time flies – as always in Terni – and I’ve got to start making my way back home. I’ve decided to drive to La Spezia today, 410km further north. With the currently very moderate temperatures and the additional weight of my luggage, I believe this will be a near-full cycle for my batteries today. As per an unwritten tradition, we all congregate at the same bar we’ve been saying our goodbyes for the last 20 years and have a farewell espresso and cornetto 🙂 Today’s route will take me across a rolling landscape before meeting up with the sea and […]
TDI2019 Day 9 – Rasiglia
Welcome to a quick TDI2019 entry – a day-trip to Rasiglia. Gabriella and I start early as the little village can get crowded very quickly. Rasiglia is an easy 70 km drive from Terni and a true gem. It is also a testament to the steadfastness of a village to survive and use modern technology to attract visitors to their unique feature: A stream flowing right though it, previously powering mills and other textile-related machinery. More on that later. But first, we enter the Valnerina, the valley of the Nera river. A very nice road winds along the narrow valley, […]
TDI2019 Day 7 – Montefalco
Today, finally, after years of me promising Marta that I’d visit Terni by TWIKE and her being really insistent wanting to try driving TW560 … finally we both found the time and … off we went! This is a very short entry as our focus was on driving and not necessarily on the destination. 🙂 Marta decided that we should drive to a small town perched on top of a small hill – Montefalco. I knew Montefalco before – their DOC wines are very drinkable and are usually not available outside Umbria. (no surprise – small amounts of wine and […]
TDI 2019 Day 6 – Castelluccio di Norcia
After a drive-free day spent with my friends (…and the reason why there is a jump in the day count), it’s time for me and one of my oldest friends in Italy to spend some quality time together. Many years ago – long before it was practical to travel to central Italy by TWIKE, one of my long-time readers of my blog – Marta (hi there!) – suggested I should take TW650 to Terni and then travel to Castellucio di Norcia as the experience was otherworldly. We’ve decided to drive to Norcia and from there to climb up to Castelluccio […]
TDI2019 Day 4 – Chioggia -> Terni
I slept very well after having completed the longest stage of any TWIKE trip ever yesterday. 650 km in one go are taxing for both vehicle and driver. After a hearty breakfast with the farm owner, I walk outside to find TW 560 just finishing the last few Wh after recharging 17.5kWh overnight. Today’s drive is much shorter than yesterday – it’s just over 400km 😀 First, I have to get back to the main road – it’s about 3 km of unpaved road which feels much less than yesterday in pitch dark. As we’re in the Pianura, the first […]