Villages, Villas and Vineyards

Italy Stage 05 – Sat 2^nd July 2016 – Bergamo to Brescia (70 Km)
Weather: 21⁰C min – 31⁰C drizzle, followed by warm and sunny

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” Brains before beauty, wear your helmet!” ~ Unknown

On a scale of one to ten I would have to award a rating of ten to today’s 70 Km ride from Bergamo to Brescia in the Lombardy region of northern Italy. The ride had everything a bicycle tourer could wish for … safe and scenic, as well as being an easy ride on mostly flat terrain, traversing quiet back roads and great bike paths winding through vineyards and past the beautiful Lago d’Iseo. The route passes through several incredibly beautiful towns, including Costa Di Mezzate and Sarnico, featuring many grand villas and lovely houses.

Unlike yesterday there was no dodging of puddles or rocks on rough gravel paths, and no dodging of cars and trucks on heavy-traffic main roads. For the whole journey I was free to savour the sights and enjoy the exhilaration of rolling along on my smoothly running bicycle without a care in the world.

The only slight hiccough was the light drizzle leaving Bergamo, which had me worried about water getting into the electronics of my Garmin navigator through the gaping hole where the on-off button used to be. As a precaution I covered the hole with some Scotch Magic Tape and then covered the whole device with a plastic bag. To my relief I could still see the route line on the map and the touch screen still worked through the plastic. After about 10 Km the skies cleared and I enjoyed a warm, mostly sunny, day for the rest of the trip.

Lunch consisted of fruit that I had brought with me from Bergamo: some apricots, a nectarine, a banana, and some dried apricots and nuts … all enjoyed while sitting on a bench at Paratico (near Sarnico) overlooking the spectacular Lago d’Iseo. While I was eating I shared my bench with a nice couple from southern Germany (but not Bavaria they hastened to emphasize). They had come especially to see The Floating Piers, Christo’s work of art on Lake Iseo.

In no time at all I was entering the fascinating old town of Brescia. I have learned from my experience with Bergamo yesterday never to judge a book by its cover, so I was not put off by the urban sprawl and the seedy bus and train station. Just as well because Brescia is a sheer delight. With a name like Brescia I was expecting to see furniture shops everywhere but I never sighted any. All I found was an ultra-modern shopping centre featuring lots of boutiques and fine food places.

There was some kind of rowdy protest going on in the main square, with activists waving banners (that I couldn’t read) and speakers shouting through a megaphone (that I couldn’t understand). I am therefore totally ignorant as to what the rally was about. I really don’t understand how anybody could be discontent living in such a lovely town as Brescia!