Got organized fairly quickly – gave the fridge in the campervan a little wipedown, packed our stuff up and were off. We put our destination into the GPS but didn’t like the route she chose for us so ended up just following the map.

The first stage we’re going to starts in Foligno and follows the same road part of the way that we went on last year to see the Giro. We chose to follow the entire stage route rather than taking the faster roads to our destination of Monteguiduccio.

The whole way was beautiful – once through the mountains it was rolling hills, bright green fields, orchards and vineyards. Small, winding roads connected little villages on the top of almost every hill, and the route seemed to go thru as many of them as possible. As usual they were still doing road repairs in some places – nothing like leaving it until the last moment – at least the local villagers will be happy.

At one point I got quite excited saying ‘oh look – there’s a deer!’ in the woods to the right – then we realized that it was a deer farm as there were dozens of them eating from a bunch of hay bales. We drove a bit further than needed so we could scout out the best spot, then backtracked to a nice wide flat place on the side of the road to camp for the night.

The next morning was bright and sunny, getting warm already by 9:00. After a cup of tea and a bite to eat we drove a bit further up the road to a nice field we thought would be good to park in.

We got the flags all up, setup the table and chairs, and prepared to wait for the race.

We’d been sitting reading for awhile when I noticed a movement out of the corner of my eye – there was a small brown animal trotting happily towards us. I thought at first it might be a dog coming from the house on the hill above us, but upon closer look I realized it wasn’t a dog at all – it was a wild boar!

It took me a moment to realize that it was just a little one – not a giant male about to attack. By then I’d let out a noise and made a movement that startled the small animal, causing it to stop and retreat into the nearby hedges – my camera, for once, wasn’t within reach so I didn’t get a photo. I waited and waited but the boar didn’t show his snout again – shy little guy.

A couple of hours later a red car pulled in beside us – we wondered if it was the local landowner come to chase us away, but he didn’t. What he wanted was for us to email him some of the photos we were going to take of the race, and in return he presented us with a 5 litre can of extra virgin olive oil – grown from his trees ‘just over the hill’ from where we were!

The racers arrived right around 3:20 with both Dumoulin and Yates in the first small group. We’d picked our spot carefully – on a fairly steep hill just after a very narrow, winding part. As we were the only ones on that part of the road we ended up cleaning up on the bottles – got seven in all without even trying. It was great with no kids to compete against!

Peter Sagan had a stomach virus for five days prior to the start of the race so isn’t a contender overall – we’re just glad he was there and hadn’t given up and gone home.

After the last racer passed we took our time getting the flags down, etc, and ended up going through the finishing town of Fossombrone on our way to our stop for the night in the town of Corinaldo. We made our way to a camperstop that was totally basic but free (!) – we had electrical hookup, as well as water dump and fill.

Had a few quiet days – Colin re-planted the pansy that Chairman Meow had dug out of the top flower box while we were gone in Siena. Colin now feeds Meow when he’s here, and apparently Meow wasn’t pleased that we’d gone away for a day. It’s kind of funny because it seems that Meow’s human – Angelo next door – is actually home right now so should also be feeding him.

One afternoon there was a fierce wind-storm for about an hour, then another even more fierce in the middle of the night – but the morning dawned clear and sunny. Walked down to the Other Bar around noon each day for a cappuccino, read a bit, watched highlights of Paris-Nice.

Little Mia, a beautiful beagle puppy that some neighbours got recently, follows us from time to time, and is constantly jumping at Mo wanting to play. She’s just a bit too exuberant after a while, and desperately needs some training. We’re worried that she wanders around the whole village alone and doesn’t seem to be supervised at all.

Some of the village cats are still around from last year, but we haven’t seen the cream-coloured ones with the grey/brown ears yet.

The weather has generally been pretty nice – warm enough when in the sun, but definitely need a sweater or light jacket if in the shade. One afternoon rain had been forecast for around 4 in the afternoon, but didn’t arrive until about 7 – when it did come it just pounded down.

At one point we noticed that the streetlights were all out – lightening must have hit something. Mo felt the need to bark at the first few thunderclaps, but eventually settled down.

Got up nice and early, packed up (way too much stuff) for our first little trip, and got on the road by around 11.

Took a little detour at Lago Trasimeno so we could have lunch at ‘il Ristoro’ – once again didn’t get exactly what we had ordered, but it was, as usual, delicious. We were the first ones there – they hadn’t actually opened yet but they let us sit down to wait a few minutes. By the time we left the restaurant it was totally packed – not an empty table to be found. I didn’t see any of the cats, but I’m sure they’re around somewhere.

After lunch we were off towards Siena to check out the last 30 km or so of the route for tomorrow’s Strade Bianche that starts and finishes in Siena. We followed the route into the city so we’d have an idea where we might want to park tomorrow, then found a nice campground for the night.

Race-day morning was blue skies and sunshine – had a nice hot shower, then drove down closer to where the race was starting. We ended up parking right across the road from the place we’d stayed at last year, then just followed the crowds up into the old town.
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The start was at the stadium, and all of the team buses were parked in a large area just below, with crowds of people milling about, some waiting outside a particular bus for their favourite racer to come out.

One photographer made us stop and look – he had at least 3 or 4 cameras mounted together on a hand-held contraption that looked very heavy – I wouldn’t want to carry it around for long.

We walked partway up to the start area, then stopped so we could take some photos of the riders as they approached to sign in. Everything at the point is still casual – riders go up the road smiling and relaxed.

Vincenzo Nibali was the last to come up (of course) and I was about to take a head-on photo with him looking right at me when a large fellow stepped right in front of me, even running alongside Nibali as he passed. I felt like smacking him in the back of his big fat head for ruining my shot so completely but he’d already passed, along with my shot.

We then moved up the road just a bit to where the group would come around a sharp corner and be going slowly past on the roll-out. Afterwards we consulted the city map we’d geen given at the campground, but ended up having to ask a policeman how to get back down to where we’d parked.

The area around the stadium is quite nice – there’s a park with a carousel and stuff for kids, as well as a couple of nice statues and memorials.

We left the city planning to go back down the highway a bit then follow the route of the last 30 km or so (like we did last night) to find a place to park and watch. We made it to the turn-off but didn’t get any further – the road was already closed for the women’s race to pass. They had started a couple of hours before the men and had a shorter course so were already almost finished.

After about 30 minutes we were allowed to proceed so we drove to the town of Castelnuovo Baradenga where we turned west to follow the route and find our spot. We ended up at a nice wide pullout partway up a small hill where we setup the table and chairs and sat down to wait.

Another few groups of women racers passed by – the last small group didn’t look like they were even trying, and we saw later on tv that many of them had gotten off their bikes near the end and pushed them up the hill rather than riding into the Campo.

The first group of 15 or 20 of the men arrived around 2:40, with Nibali passing by a couple of minutes later – this time I got a decent shot of him with no fat-head in the way. Most of the riders and all of the cars were covered in dust from the ‘white road’ sections – some cars you could hardly tell what colour they were. One of the Vini Fantini riders near the end saw me taking photos so threw his empty water bottle right at my feet – another prize!

After the last cars had passed we drove back home via Perugia, stopping at a home-store so Colin could choose his new sofa. I walked thru the store with him – kind of setup like Ikea where you walk thru a virtual maze of rooms, but Colin knew where he was going so I didn’t need to leave a trail of breadcrumbs to find my way out. After testing a few sofas out he knew which one he wanted so we continued to the checkout. It took several minutes for them to find a salesperson that spoke english but they were all very nice. Colin went back with the young fellow to discuss delivery, etc, while I returned to the campervan to keep Mo company while we waited.

Business done we made it back to the house at a decent time and had a lovely salmon with mashed potatoes dinner.

My current journey began very early – up at 2:00 and out of the house by 3:45. Check-in was easy – I’d already paid for my extra bag – Dominic had to leave when I went thru security so then I was on my own. Flight to Vancouver was ok – although we didn’t get so much as a cup of tea or bag of nuts. Waited a few hours in Vancouver for the flight to Montreal – this time at least got a cup of coffee, although no food. Watched Ocean’s 8 and a couple of tv shows.

The final flight was delayed a bit so they could de-ice the plane but the flight was good. We got dinner not long after take-off, then it was lights-out for most as it was by then fairly late and dark. Watched another movie and some more tv, then tried to get a bit of sleep, which was fruitless.

Landed at Fiumicino a half-hour early to bright sunshine and about 19 above – the winter coat I started out wearing was changed for a light sweater. I headed through security – there was one poor couple up at the front with their packs open and items strewn about – I assume they had lost their passports – the wife was getting a little irritated.

Had no problem with security so moved on to pickup my bags and out the door to meet Colin. I sent him a message and he called me back, agreeing where to meet. 20 minutes later he and Mo pulled up and we were off – just as if I’d never left.

I’m so glad he came and picked me up rather than having to take the train to Foligno – I was so tired I could barely stay awake on the drive to Papiano, and ended up having a nap almost as soon as we got to the house.

After a couple of hours sleep I managed to get up and eat a bit of the roast chicken legs and veggies that Colin made. Stayed up for a couple more hours, then early bed.

Feeling better the next morning we did a bit of cleanup on the campervan then went down to the bar for a cappuccino – best coffee I’ve had since I left Italy last October.

Colin’s new bed arrived, but they could only get part of the frame up the narrow stairs – they’ll have to bring a different setup next week. I made a nice chicken soup out of the leftovers from yesterday, and had another early night.

I woke up just before my alarm went off at 5:00. Had a shower and made a nice cup of tea before packing up. I was already pretty organized and it didn’t take long – I have another bag of stuff I won’t need at home – Colin’s going to take it back to Italy with him.

After a bit to eat and a final check we were on our way as planned at 7:00 – we took the BMW rather than the mini so that Mo could come – she’s not allowed in the mini. We left way earlier than we needed to but I’d rather be early and wait than be rushing about at the last minute.

It rained off and on but traffic wasn’t too bad – a couple of spots where it bogged down for a bit, but all in all a decent drive. Colin parked in the parkade so he could come in with me – said goodbye to Mo in the car.

I took my stuff up to an agent to make sure the large bag was ok – it’s just the same as when I came over but you never know. I had to take it to ‘excess baggage’ to check but she gave me a sticker for it and both of my boarding passes so it was all good.

After that all I had to do was go through security so Colin and I had to say goodbye as he’s not allowed through. There was so much to say but rather than get all red eyed and blotchy faced crying we just had a nice good hug and said ‘see you next year’.

Security was a bit fun – something I had on made the machine beep so I got the whole pat down routine – that’s never happened before but eventually she realized I didn’t have an AR47 down my pant leg.

I was way early for my flight so sat in the lounge area reading. The walk to my departure gate took a few minutes, then we boarded almost on time. The first flight was pretty good – all the way from Heathrow to Calgary, and it wasn’t full so there was an empty seat between my (at the window) and another lady in the aisle seat.

I watched a couple of movies and some tv shows, and ate the chicken dinner they served – it wasn’t terrible. We passed over both Iceland and Greenland along the way, although it was cloudy a good part of the time so visibility was spotty.

We landed a bit ahead of schedule in Calgary – clearing customs was easy. We each had to fill out a one-page info sheet and scanned it and our passports into a little machine. You then answer a few questions and as long as you’re not stupid answering the last one you get waved through. I was laughing as I left and one of the security guards asked why – I pointed out that the final question was ‘are you bringing any cannabis or cannabis products into Canada’. I thought that was quite funny – they don’t care about harmless little things like guns or anything – just the dreaded cannabis.

The second flight was short and on time, and Dominic picked me up and took me home to the babies. Once again Sly played the shy guy and fled out the window, but Merlin was a bit braver. Walking around with the comb in my hand helped, and Merlin was leading me on his ‘tour’ in no time. Sly took a bit longer, but was purring and cuddling by bed-time.

Another fantastic, awesome trip – can’t wait to sort through all of the photos. Colin, Mo and I travel so well together – we make a great team. My adventures would be considerably different if I’d never met them. We’re already planning our next trip, which will start in early March in Italy, then on to….

Got started on our way south at around 8:30 – took the motorway part of the way, then on to quieter roads to the village of Bratton. We stopped in at Pickleberry Coffee and Gift Shop, which is where Colin’s cycling friends gather for a cup of tea on their regular Tuesday morning rides. We’d done the same thing last year as well.

They were all very pleased to see Colin and we had a nice sit down visit with his good friend Mick. Several others came by to chat, then they all left within a few minutes of each other and rode away – there must have been about 30 of them in all.

The area is so beautiful, especially at this time of year with the changing colours. There’s a large poppy on the hill above the field that we parked in, and most of the villages we drove through had displays of one kind or another.

Next we headed further south to the town of Frome, where Colin grew up – we visited it last year when we were here. Along the way we glimpsed the White Horse on the hill to the left near the town of Westbury.

We walked around Frome a bit and looked for a place to grab a quick lunch. The first cafe we went into shooed us right back out – no dogs allowed, which kind of surprised us we’ve become so used to it being ok. As we left a couple of women going in told us that the place at the end of the block would suit us.

They welcomed Mo in and we each got a sandwich – well Colin and I got a sandwich and Mo got hand fed tidbits. The place is in a very old building and the waiters and waitresses have to go up and down very narrow steep stairs to and from the kitchen.

As we left we passed an older lady sitting at one of the outside tables and she asked if she could pat Mo, which she did. As Colin continued on I stopped to take a photo of a pub across the road and the lady piped up that it was the oldest pub in the town.

I told her that Colin grew up here and she started asking questions. Colin strolled back to us and they chatted for quite a while – they went to the same school, although a few years apart. Pat B was at one time the UK women’s champion javelin thrower, and apparently also played a mean game of table tennis (don’t call it ping pong!!).

After Frome we drove up to Melksham for another visit with Mick and his wife Sandra – we went to their house last year as well. We had a cup of tea and Colin got them all caught up on our travels. It was a really nice visit and we were on our way home around 4:30 or so.

It gets dark really early so part of the drive back was in the dark – it had been a lovely day but was nice to get home. Got a slightly earlier night for once.

Sunday morning we went out around 10:00 to go see Joseph and Olivia at their gymnastics class – Neil’s mom nanny-Ann was there and I also met his wife Louise for the first time.

The kids really seemed to enjoy the class – it was a large gym with 8 or 10 groups of between 4 and 7 kids each. They had pretty good equipment and lots of ‘coaches’ who were all teenage girls. The equipment was pretty good and they seemed to be learning the basics of all of the various apparatuses. The main criticism I might make was the number of times I saw kids that arched their heads and/or backs rather than tucking them under and rolling.

After the class Colin and I popped by the store for groceries then went home for a short while before going out for lunch. We went to the Bull Inn for their Sunday roast – Colin got the lamb and I chose the pork. We each got a plate with a pile of tender and delicious meat swimming in gravy with a scoop of stuffing, yorkshire pudding, and roasted potatoes, and a side dish of potatoes with cheese, and another with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and cabbage. We both ate until we felt like the ‘snake that ate the goat’ – I really wanted to finish it all but just couldn’t – it was enough food for three or four hungry people.

After rolling ourselves out to the car and getting home all we could do was sit down and digest.

Monday was pretty quiet – we took Mo for a nice walk to the orchard and around on the trails to the pub, and went home for a nice roast chicken and potato dinner.

For the sixth night in a row we heard fireworks – every night from Halloween to Guy Fawkes Day – Mo tried to out-bark them.

Neighbours Lyn and Philip came over for a nice visit and to get caught up on our travels, etc. They’re such nice people and Colin is very fortunate to have them next door.

There are lots of shows on right now about the 100th anniversary of the end of the first world war – the ‘war to end all wars’ – if only! Those that forget the past are doomed to repeat it.

Once again I stayed up way too late.

Friday morning was sunny and beautiful so we decided to go for a ride. I didn’t bring my own bike over so I’m using Colin’s white mountain bike as I did last year when I was here.

We started out on the trails that led north to the canal, then turned right and went as far as Offerton Lane. Unfortunately Colin doesn’t like riding on the paths and canal as much as I do and wanted to go onto the road instead. The road was small and quiet so I didn’t mind. We followed it around and back across the canal at Tibberton, where we stopped at the Bridge Inn for a drink.

When we left to go home Colin chose to go by the road but I made the return trip by canal and paths instead.

We got take-out fish and chips from the Bull Inn for dinner – they were as good as I remembered. Stayed up way too late watching sappy Christmas movies – I think I watched three of them back to back.

Saturday wasn’t quite so nice out – ‘young Neil’ brought both of his kids over for bacon bunwiches. I’d met little Joseph a couple of times before but it’s the first time meeting Olivia. They’re both adorable – polite, intelligent and – most importantly – well behaved.

In the afternoon we took Mo for a nice walk to the orchard – the shopping cart and large pop bottles that were there the other day had been removed, and several of the trees had pumpkins at their bases – there must have an event of some kind yesterday. We continued on to the grange field and past the larger pond – the half-submerged shopping cart and floating pop bottles had not been removed – no event held here, I guess.

On to the Grange Pub for a drink – watched the last bit of a football game on the big screen. Man U won – Mo was suitably attired in her stylish red and black jacket.

Got up early – before 7:00! – to a gray looking day but we had a road-trip planned and didn’t care. We left just after 9:00 and headed south on quiet smaller roads, passing through Tewkesbury after about an hour.

We turned west at Gloucester and continued further south, through Lydney and on to Chepstow in Wales.

The Severn River gradually widened into the Severn Estuary, and apparently the tides are high enough at times that you can surf on them. As we headed further south the sky started to clear and ended up beautiful and sunny, although still very chilly.

We stopped in Chepstow for a walk around and refreshment. In the old part of the town the sidewalks have short sayings carved into them and coloured blue, as well as groups of large coin impressions.

In front of some of the buildings there’s a plaque sunk into the sidewalk telling the story and history of the building or area.

In the centre of the area there’s a memorial to the wars, and there are poppies imbedded in the stairs, and sculptures in the walls.

Leaving Chepstow we continued south to Newport, where we stopped at the velodrome, which has been renamed in honour of Geraint Thomas, the Welshman who won this year’s Tour de France.

They let us inside to watch the practice but I wasn’t allowed to take photos. I’ve watched a bit of track cycling on tv but have never been inside a course before. It was very interesting – there were several groups of riders in the inside of the track at the far end warming up and getting instructions from coaches, while three or four at a time did their training on the track. The track itself is steeply sloped at each end up to 42 degrees, and I had thought that the straight stretches were flat, but they’re also slanted, although not nearly so sharply.

After watching for a bit we made our way out – the facility has a bunch of other things happening – a full gym as well as indoor and outdoor courts for tennis and ping-pong, etc. The bright blue sky was getting a bit cloudy again, but the rain was holding off.

We left Newport and went north, stopping for a walkabout at Goytre Wharf, which is a tying up place for canal boats.

The canal is 35 miles long and was originally opened in the early 1800’s to carry coal, and it runs through the Brecon Beacons National Park.

We then went on to Abergavenny, where we once again stopped and walked around a bit looking for a place to get a bite to eat. We found a nice little cafe where we ordered cheeseburgers, and ended up chatting with the owner. We asked him about the mural on the wall of Puglia, Italy and it turns out that he’s Italian so we had lots to talk about.

There was also a mural on the side of the building across the road – it showed the local area as it is now, with a panel overlaid on one side that showed it as it was in 1665 and another panel showing it in 1100, all with Sugar Loaf mountain in the background.

There was an older lady waiting for a sandwich to take out and she was very talkative – her name was Jean and she must be a regular customer. When she got her sandwich she went over to a side counter to make use of some sauces and ended up making a bit of a mess that she wiped up with a handful of napkins, leaving a big greasy smear on the chair she’d used as a table.

Homeward bound after eating, the GPS took us through Hereford, which wasn’t really the route we’d wanted but we decided to follow it anyway. It was almost a huge mistake – the traffic was starting to slow and we could see that the other direction wasn’t moving at all. Luckily there was more than one lane and we were able to bypass the worst of it fairly quickly. The news on the radio mentioned the stalled traffic in that area, and I read later that there’d been an accident between a motorcycle and a car.

The last hour or so of the drive home was in the dark but at least it wasn’t raining. Neither of us was hungry after the delicious burgers we’d had so a light snack sufficed for dinner.

Yesterday and today followed a similar pattern – up at a decent time, nice cup of tea followed by breakfast. Around 11:00 taking Mo for a walk, and stopping off at the Pub on the way home.

They let me take Mo inside as long as I kept to the area that doesn’t have carpet, which was fine with us. I got a glimpse of Chips, the pub cat, who still looks healthy and well-fed, although since I had Mo with me I didn’t try to get near her.

Colin took the mini in for the MOT so he’ll be able to drive it in a day or two with proper insurance. The new bike he’d ordered arrived so he spent a little time setting it up and getting it ready to ride.

One night we had lovely lamb chops with roasted potatoes for dinner, and the next night we got fish and chips from the Bull pub in Fernhill Heath. We always eat so well!