15- Grand bicycle tour in Italy from 2011 (Porto Venere)

Day 13) Porto Venere I am happy to discover the Byron's grotto. The great poet George Byron was bold enough once upon a time to swim from PortoVenere to Lerice, another ligurian gem.

Plenty of tourists are heading for the fortress.

Many nice boats can be found here.

The fortress is well preserved.

I roam inside its's walls.

I catch glimpse of a fat venera carved in stone.

All the day I will relax, wander about town and swim in the Poets' gulf.

The streets are cobblestoned and so narrow.

The views from the fortress are quite mind-blowing.

I enjoy a glorious sunset.

I also read the history about an old church.

14- Grand bicycle tour in Italy from 2011 (Appennino Tosco Emiliano)

The weather remains unstable but the views are quite attractive.

I am going down to Busana and the rain will annoy me a bit. I Busana I wait a few hours for the rain to stop.

Then a cycle for a while on SS63 and then I turn right on SP15, a secondary road that will keep me climbing a lot, again. I will spend the night at Vairo, a little village.

Day 12) Vairo - La Spezia - Pontevenere Today the weather is still nasty and I will climb another BIG on SP68, I am in Appennino Tosco Emiliano range.

The rain sets in and I am cycling in the rain climbing passo di Lagastrello and then passo del Cirone, 2 BIGs, I will take no photos for a few hours because of the nasty weather. After Cirone I descend on SP42 and the rain will stop soon.

It's time to descend on SS62 going to La Spezia towards the Mediteraneean Sea. Near Aulla I encounter a lavish castle.

Finally I reach La Spezia, an important town.

Here I can notice a statue of Garibaldi.

In the harbour I discover plenty of palm trees.

Now I am heading for Portovenere, taking in marvelous vistas.

All my life I have been dreaming to reach Cinque Terre.

Porto Venere; until 1991 is a town and comune (municipality) located on the Ligurian coast of Italy in the province of La Spezia. It comprises the three villages of Fezzano, Le Grazie and Porto Venere, and the three islands of Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto. In 1997 Porto Venere and the villages of Cinque Terre were designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

The ancient Portus Veneris is believed to date back to at least the middle of the 1st century BC. It has been said that the name refers to a temple to the goddess Venus which was sited on the promontory where the church of Peter the Apostle now stands. The name has also been linked to that of the hermit Saint Venerius. In Roman times the city was essentially a fishing community.

13- Grand bicycle tour in Italy from 2011 (Appennino Pistoiese)

Day 10) Cutigliano - Abetone - San Pelegrino - Castelnuovo di Garfagnana Today I will have a nice climb towards Abetone which is a BIG climb. I enjoy nice scenery.

After one hour of cycling I get to Abetone which is a nice resort.

I carry on cycling on SS12 till Passo delle Radici where I turn left towards a new BIG.

The weather breaks, it will start raining soon and I will be descending towards Castelnuovo di Garfagnana on SP71 road.

In the distance I can see some villages.

Finally I reach Castelnuovo all soaked and I go to visit it. It looks like a forteress.

It seems to be a small medieval town with strong fortifications.

It will rain all the day and night and so I will take refuge, sleeping in a small tunnel where the rain can not touch me.

Day 11) Castelnuovo - Busana - Vairo In the morning I have to wait a few hours beacause it's still raining. Finally I leave this walled interesting town.

I will take a secondary road towards a new BIG. In the distance I can see nice villages.

All of a sudden I see a bird and I will catch it to play with it a little then I will set it free.

On my way I meet a nice lake with some wild ducks.

After climbing a bit on SP12 road I finally get to a new BIG, passo de Pradarena