April 30: Breakfast with Raphael

Cherub + cherry tomatos 

April 29: Another new morning

Ripening pears

April 28: Lost in the Fog

Hills in the mist, Alpi Apuane

One advantage to a red car: you can find it in the fog!

April 27: Rainy Day Discoveries

Medieval bridge at Castiglione Garfagnana

At Isola Santa, west of Castelnuovo di Garfagnana

Drip, drip...

Tables in the rain

Pink Umbrella

April 26: Under Tuscan Skies

Sunset and vines

Clearing clouds, west of Lucca  

April 25: Morning Ritual

John with his morning coffee, studying the maps

April 24: Late afternoon in Lucca

Down the road from our home at Villa Barsanti

Villa and vineyards

April 23: Cycling in Tuscany

First day cycling in Tuscany (on borrowed bikes!) in the hills above Lucca.

April 22: Arrival in Lucca

At Villa Barsanti, outside Lucca:

After every rain, a rainbow

Surveying the vineyard

Old vines, new growth

April 21: Cinque Terre in the Rain

On the high route

Vernazza

Vernazza

Looking back at Corniglia

Overlooking Vernazza

April 20: Easter evening in Sestri Levante

The remains of the baroque Oratory of Santa Caterina,
destroyed during the bombings of WWII

April 19: Buona Pasqual from Bergamo

April 18: Around Bergamo

Would you like fries with that?

All dressed up for Easter (NOT one of our bikes!)

Morning rush hour outside our B&B

April 17: Wine Central

Filling the tank with vino rosso

Winemaker Luigi (yes, that's his real name!)
presents us with a bottle of his Super Rossa

April 16: First night in Italy

Dinner in Bergamo

Sunset view from la terrazza

Our delightful waitress

April 15: L'Enfer du Nord

The annual bicycle race from Paris to Roubaix passes through "L'Enfer du Nord" (hell of the north), an area devastated by two World Wars. Today, in the peaceful Arenberg Forest in northeastern France, cyclists battle their way over 50+ kilometers of cobblestone roads. 

April 14: Paris-Roubaix

We got to witness of one of the spring classic bike races, Paris-Roubaix – a grueling 250 km endurance race, much of it over cobblestone roads.

John came prepared with Belgian beer and baguettes

The peloton in the famed Arenberg forest

Bradley Wiggins has a narrow lead with 15km to go

Crowd cheers as Niki Terpstra solos to victory

Minutes after the racers had passed by

April 13: Outside Bruges

Poplars along the canals

John on our very own "Tour de Flanders"

Cycling from Bruges to Damme, Belgium

April 12: In Bruges

Arrived in Bruges, Belgium--a beautiful medieval city adorned by blue sunny skies.

April 11: Must be Belgium

Frites in Brugges