Sunday I went out for a ride with my neighbor. We did a loop up in the mountains through the towns of Frisanco and Navarons. Friscano was voted the most picturesque town in Italy a few years ago. Scott and Caroline, do you remember that ride when you visited? We didn't stop for a capuccino this time though.

While Marianne was shopping I puttered around the yard and enjoyed some incredibly nice weather. I did save one piece of yard for Marianne to cut when she returned. That evening we sat on the porch with the cat and enjoyed wine from grapes grown down the street.

I'm late posting last weekend's photo's because of computer problems which are now resolved. Saturday Marianne went to Nove for a shopping trip. The town is known for it's ceramics. If you've ever used a plate that says made in Italy on the back, this is where it came from.

The middle town of Corniglia is not on the water. It sits up 500 or so steps. The last town we hiked to was Manarola were Marianne and I posed for this shot. The traffic on the trail was getting heavy with the Easter weekend vacationers so we caught the boat back to Porto Venere and got home about 9 that night

Gettting on the boat is an experience. There is no dock so the boat pulls up bow first, crew throws ropes to whomever is on the wharf, puts the engines in reverse to keep from smashing into the rocks and tensing the ropes, then lowers a gangplank on wheels. The swell is making the gangplank bob up and down about five feet and two or three feet back and forth.

Saturday we woke early despite a slight wine hangover and caught the early boat to the Northenmost town of Monterosso. There is a hiking trail between each town that we planned on trying out. The first town along the way is Vernazza. The trail is tough being all up or down. The views are spectacular.

This weekend we went to Cinque Terra, a collection of 5 old fishing villages clinging to little valleys by the ocean. Friday we drove to a town on the coast called Porto Venere and caught a boat to the first of the 5 towns "Riomaggiore." Had some lunch and a pitcher of wine before heading back for the night.

Here is my attempt to capture the feeling of the little villages around here. This was in Cordignano.

Sunday I woke up way too early and went on a ride with Meschio. We rode to the beach town of Caorle . About 140K round trip. Met Marianne back in Caneva and we rode for a few more hours. Along the way we ran into a car ralley of Cinquecentro's, one of the smallest cars ever made. We stopped at a cafe for some coffee and panini. Something that makes me laugh is that when you order a panini (sandwich) at most places in Italy there is never a question of what kind you want. Of course you want a prosciutto sandwich. I also found this bike with some cool handle bars. On the way home we stopped in Fratta and Marianne posed with this big wine cask across from a local winery.

Saturday Marianne and I rode to the pool and had a good workout. When I got home I attacked the yard for the first time this year. Here is proof of my labors.
I am deadly with a weed wacker.

This is Giovanna. Her and her husband Olindo don't speak english and with Marianne and I's pathetic Italian skills you'd think we'd have trouble, but we always seem to be able to communicate easily.

Friday we went to our friends Michael and Laura's house for Michael's birthday party. The food and wine were great and I had too much of both. Luckily we rode our town bikes there and back.

This is a shot of the two villages of Budoia and Dardago. There is a springwater reservoir with a spigot on the way up which is a good place to fill bottles

Clint and I did our regular lunch time ride up piancavallo today.
We usually ride up an old road that's closed to traffic but still in pretty good shape, then come down the main road. We went up higher then we have been lately and it is still cold up there. If I could swing a 3 hour lunch we could go all the way to the top!

This morning was clear and cold on the way in to work. Visibility was so good I stopped to take these pictures. I'm going to start commuting on my road bike today which I've done for the past two summers. We'll see if the weather holds.

It's great seeing everything start growing again. Soon it will be warm enough to go to dinner in Sacile on our favorite form of transportation.

Here's some shots of spring making it's appearence around our house. Sunday afternoon we pedaled the town bikes into Brugnera for some gelato.

Had quite a full weekend. Friday night our Italian neighbor Gary and his family came over for dinner. We made Mexican food which was new to them but they seemed to enjoy it. Especially the tacos. Gary has his own vines and makes wine each year. He brought a couple bottles over and they went down fine. Most of the Italians out here in the country make their own and take great pride in it. He told me to stop by whenever we need more, so now we have the wine hookup!
Sunday I finally got out and did my first Meschio club ride of the year. Meschio is the bike club Marianne and I ride with here. They are very old school but one of the oldest and more prestigious clubs in the area. We are the only Americans in the club and with our poor Italian and them not speaking English it's always an experience. The fog was so thick in the morning I was soaked just riding to the start, but the sun came out and turned into a beautiful sunny day. Had about 50 riders show up. It was good to be out with these guys again. We rode up in the hills west of here in a region famous for prosecco wine. I hung tough for the first few hours but got dumped off the back coming back into Vittorio Veneto. The group was whittled down pretty good by then so I felt okay about my "winter legs" Everyone meets at a local bar afterwards for bread, cheese, salami, wine and heavy bullshitting. It makes me laugh to hear them go on. The decibel level is amazing. I actually got the table laughing with my lousy Italian by asking someone to pass the "Meschio Gator-aid" (wine). Marianne met us there then she pulled me and my wrecked legs home.