Rating the Accommodations--Lauro Italy

Monte Grappa's hiding in among that fog somewhere.

http://www.beballauro.com/EN/index.html

B&B Al Lauro
July 1 - Jul2, 2010--2 nights

After leaving Cortina d'Ampezzo, a move which, in hindsight, was premature, if needed at all, we headed towards Treviso with our main goals of visiting the Pinarello factory and the Pinarello store and to make a visit to the great city of Venice (worthy of a sentence all by itself!).

Perhaps we should have done a better job of investiating the weather in northern Italy in June and July. Perhaps we would have adapted our schedule to have stayed in the mountains a few days longer.

It was dreadfully HOT, and HUMID to boot. I've been in Mississippi in July after a thunderstorm. This was not that bad. But being from California it was far more uncomfortable than we're used to with our "dry" heat. Like I said, if we'd known we would have stayed at altitude.

Driving around Treviso was an interesting mess. The poor Garmin was next to useless. We looked all over for the Tourism office with, and ultimately without, the GPS. We weren't terribly impressed with any of the lodging options we were seeing there. So we opted to move out towards Castelfranco Veneto, which I'd seen in earlier research on the area around Monte Grappa.

Oh, but first, we did make it to the Pinarello factory in Treviso. We arrived on a Thursday, and it was closed for inventory through the following Tuesday. So much for checking for possible conflicts--I'd researched their operating hours, local festivals, and tide charts and I thought we had it clear. Didn't think of inventory. The building itself was nice, and we could see stuff through the windows and they had a nice display of bikes in the front of the building. We made an appointment to come back to the factory the following Tuesday but, in the end, we blew it off and didn't return to Treviso after leaving and looking for lodging north of town.

We went to see the Pinarello store, too, and it was a little bit of a letdown. It wasn't much bigger than, say, a run-of-the-mill strip mall location. Maybe 30 feet wide, 100 feet deep. They had a few bikes lined up, and clothes all over the place. But it wasn't Charlie and the Chocolate Factory kind of stuff. We weren't awestruck and overwhelmed. It was just a bike shop, I guess. The one thing I did learn about was Passo Boldo


On the wall of one of the dressing rooms was placed a picture of Fausto Coppi racing up Passo San Boldo in one of the Giri di Italia. It's an awesome looking piece of engineering. Look carefully--the hairpins are tunneled into the mountain at each end. I don't know how difficult a climb it was, but it looked awesome. I wasn't able to do any research on its location in time to be able to visit it. It was not very far from Treviso, though.

So. . . lodging. After leaving Treviso we arrived in Castelfranco, located the Tourism office only to discover it had closed at noon that day. Not knowing what else to do, we continued looking at different cities and towns nearby and ended up in Asolo--a name I'd recognized from the 2010 Giro. The race passed through Asolo on their way up Monte Grappa on Stage 14 before finishing in Asolo.

We found a Tourism office there in Asolo, and a reference to some guy that owned a clothing store nearby. He showed us the room and we were completely frightened of the man and his room. He was kind of creepy. The rooms were dark and hot. We didn't see any immediate relief from the heat in the form of AC and, this being Thursday night, he told us the cleaning lady wouldn't be back until the following Monday. Nuh-uh. We told him we had to check out one other place and we'd get back to him and then we got out of there, and out of Asolo, as quickly as we could.

Thereafter, we weren't sure what we were going to do. It was beginning to look like we might really end up spending the night in the car. I'd remembered seeing the name of a little town not far from Asolo, it had shown up in the hotel/B&B listing we'd picked up at the Asolo Tourism office--B&B Al Lauro. We thought maybe "Al Lauro" was a guy's name, but it was in reference to a little hamlet called Lauro and "B&B Al Lauro" translated into Lauro B&B.

As we approached Lauro, we saw several farm houses, none of which looked the least bit inviting as a B&B. We could see a house down the road that looked newer and, as we approached it, the address numbers were coinciding properly. Then, there it was--a SIGn--B&B Al Lauro. Just as we were driving up, the owner was stepping out the front door. If we'd been 5 minutes later he would have been gone and our search would have had to continue. A GREAT family, though. It turned out to be a terrific find.

The only bad thing was they could only keep us Thursday and Friday nights, they were booked for Saturday. Which led to another search for a place to stay on Saturday afternoon.

In any event, you know, I don't even think we learned the owners' names. There are a couple of names mentioned in the website, but I'm not sure which was appropriate. Whatever their names were, they were very nice, very nice, pleasant people. They built the B&B after the owner's mother died. The family lived in the house next door (about 200 yards down the road). When the mother died, the father farmed a few more years, then had to give it up. They kept the property, built the B&B, and the father lives in half the building, the other half has 4 guest rooms, and a large ground floor with a kitchen and eating area. It really was quite nice.

The prices were very reasonable based on what we'd seen so far. 50 euros/day for the two of us, breakfast included. There was no half board option. The rooms were very comfortable, very clean, new, and AIR CONDITIONED.

The breakfast was what we'd become accustomed to. . . basic stuff. Linda raved about the coffee. She said it was the best we'd had all trip.

The location was fine--close to the foot of Monte Grappa, which we rode on Saturday. We took the train from Castelfranco to Venice on Friday. And it was hot all the while. Even the owners were complaining about the heat and humdidity.

I would highly recommend the B&B al Lauro if you have reason to be in that vicinity. There was a nice little family-run restaurant just up the road--Al Lauro Ristorante Pizzeria. We ate there at least three times over the few days we were there.

I'd just suggest that you go before May, or after August.

Rating the Accommodations - Cortina d'Ampezzo

Hotel Aquila, June 28-June 30, 2010, 3 nights

http://www.aquilacortina.com/index_ing.php

Piazza Pittori Fratelli Ghedina, 1
Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy

After leaving Arabba, and riding Fedaia, we planned to head to Cortina d'Ampezzo, about a half hour drive from Caprile. We had not booked a room prior to our arrival in Cortina. We planned to stop by the tourist office for some guidance. I felt goofy walking around in my cycling gear--but it turned out to be a pretty easy experience. When we arrived in Cortina, the office was still closed for their afternoon break. At 3:30 p.m., they reopened to a group of about 7-8 people looking for various tips on what to do, where to stay, etc. After a quick consultation, we headed over to Hotel Aquila to inquire about a room. They had plenty of space, we booked right away. We needed a shower!

Location: Hotel Aquila is at one end of a pedestrian only shopping zone. It was close to the road, had free parking (though not much of it), and was close to everything we needed. The traffic noise was not noticeable from the road about 100 yards away. There was a pasticceria close by! In the evenings, the locals tended to stay out late so the most noise was from the people down in the plaza talking into the later evening. No complaints about the location.

Rate: 70 euros/person/night half board. This was about what we'd been seeing most everywhere else, or within 10 euros of what we'd been seeing. Other Cortina locations were slightly more expensive and I don't know that they offered anything better.



Rooms: Hotel Aquila's rooms were some of the largest we experienced during our trip. They were not completely modern, but were certainly very comfortable and clean. Our room was on the 3rd floor, on the corner with a broad balcony on two sides of the building. The view out the bedroom's french doors were straight out to the mountains. While not as beautiful as Lake Como, the view was, nonetheless, superb.

36) 867315


: info






Food: It was okay. Hotel Aquila followed the same process as the other hotels we visited. We'd have three choices for a first course, three for an appetizer, and three for a main course. Desserts were weakest here. Breakfasts were the same basic stuff we'd seen elsewhere, just wasn't as eagerly anticipated as in other places. Of course this may have had as much to do with the growing familiarity with Euro breakfasts as with the actual quality. We didn't get sick, so it must have been fine.

Staff: The owner kept a pretty visible profile. He, his wife and a kid. Kind of an odd dude, shaved head. Nice enough, I guess. And patient with us as we worked through dinner menus. They had visitors over regularly, with their kids, and they would eat in the same dining room as we did. No problem with that, other than the kids would get to running around with cardboard or plastic swords carrying on. The guy must have changed clothes 5 times a day. Every time we'd see him he'd be wearing something different. The staff he'd hired were very nice--young folks mostly. Very friendly and seemingly eager to assist. One older gentleman ran the bar. At first I thought he was an elitist--kind of seemed to stick his nose up at everything we did. I think I just misunderstood him. Once engaged in conversation he came across as a good guy.

Expensive on the internet usage, and phone calls. I don't know how they figured how much time we'd used the computer. All the other places we'd been sold blocks of time and you knew exactly how much time you had (even as you were wasting most of it waiting for the computer to function).

Recommend? Eh--3 out 5 stars. The building was in good shape. There were pictures of it around the place in its earlier appearances. It's been kept up nicely. I have no idea how profitable it is to run a hotel like this in Italy. The family seemed okay--they usually live on premises, as this family did. I never learned this fellows name, and the conversation was never familiar enough for me to ask him. There were many, many other locations to choose from. Once recommended that we did not check into was Hotel Olimpia. They quoted a higher price, with no half board option. It had some construction going on in front of it during our stay, which certainly will cease at some point and then will make Olimpia a more likely candidate next time.

http://www.hotelolimpiacortina.com/lang1/index.html

Hemingway on Bicycling

It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle. ~Ernest Hemingway

Rating the Accommodations - Arabba, Italy

Hotel Malita, Arabba, Italy, June 25-27 2010 3 nights.

http://www.hotelmalita.com/it/malita_ambiente.php

http://www.hotelmalita.com/en/index.php

Via Mesdi, 54

32020, Arabba, Italy

After leaving Bormio, we headed for the Pyrenees. We had reserved spots only through to our stay in Bormio, deciding to wing-it on the remainder of the trip on assurances that we wouldn't have any trouble finding a place to stay during this time of year. This was generally true, but it was still sometimes a lengthier than necessary search depending on what we found when we got to our first locale.

After leaving Bormio, our first thought was to travel to Alleghe in the Dolomites for a feew nights. Upon arriving there, we were not captivated by the two, although its location on a small lake was nice. There was one main drag through town and it was pretty busy. We checked out 2 locations--one we didn't care for much (views front and rear weren't very good) and we tried another overlooking the lake, but they could accommodate us for just one night.

Location: So we dragged out the maps, bought some margherita pizza, some strudel, and coke, and decided where to go next. We settled on Arabba due its location smack dab on the Sella Ronda between the Pordoi and Campolongo passes. There's another town that could have served well, Corvara, but we'd heard that it was a boring town, so we didn't check it out. It would have meant another 20 minutes' drive and it was late by this time.

We checked in with the tourism office, which proved to be invaluable, told the woman attending the desk what we were looking for and she came up with several alternatives. Out of nervousness we would get aced out of a room if we didn't act quickly, we went to Hotel Malita first since it was a little closer. Another, Hotel Olympia, we could see from the road below and it looked decent, and well-visited. May be worth a try if you decide to stay in Arabba. My suggestion, though, if you want to stay ON the Sella Ronda is to check out Corvara. Arabba was nicely situated on the Sella Ronda but the town was very small with very little to do bu walk around in short circles.

Corvara was much larger and afforded a little more in the way of distractions, if you want to call them that, and the views were better.

Corvara's located between the Campolongo and Gardena passes. There are numerous other small towns here and there that could also be considered, but in terms of proximity to the Sella Ronda, these two are it.

Rate: 50 euros/person/night, mezza pensione. Hotel Olympia, I think I remember correctly, was just 45 euros/person/night. Frankly, I was a little nervous about such a low rate, fearing quality concerns, cleanliness, etc. The fears were unfounded.

Rooms: The rooms were a nice size, not particularly modern, but they were certainly adequate. No complaints. Along the back side of the hotel, where our room was, we were facing a parking lot and there was a stream running through a man-made course that made for "good splash", as Linda likes to say, but the views were not engaging. Our room happened to be right above the kitchen and we could smell both the good and the bad of its activities. A little annoying, but nothing we couldn't live with.

Hotel Malita Bathroom--clean, adequate--I didn't try the bidet.

Food: Hotel Malita was the first one to offer granola in addition to muesli for breakfast. Their breakfast was about like all the others we encountered. Nothing extravagant, but everything that was needed. Dinners were good, which was one of the things I worried about with the price. The selections each night were enough to where we were always able to find something we liked. Malita followed the same course as Alu, three choices for a first plate, three for the main course, then dessert (plus a salad to start). Their gelato wasn't as good as Alu's.

Staff: our contacts with most of these places was the restaurant staff. Hotel Malita had a waiter and waitress that we saw each night and morning. The waiter spoke English pretty well, and the waitress could get by between my English and Spanish and her Italian. We liked them very much, no complaints here. The waiter reminded Linda of Peter Sellers--and she had a point.

Recommend: I'd recommend Corvara over Arabba, but if Arabba's where you want to be, there are worse places than Hotel Malita. And there are quite a few hotels in Arabba--a visit to the tourist office would be recommended. Malita's internet service was high at 6 euros/hour. We found another internet spot in a hotel bar across the street that was considerably cheaper, but suffered from serious computer performance issues.

Random Notes Data & Details

2,605 kms driven in our leased Renault Kangoo, 1,618 miles.

Visited Carpentras, Bedoin, Bourg d'Oisans, Lake Como, Bormio, Arabba, Cortina d'Ampezzo, Lauro, Pagnano, Garda, Milan, and countless small towns in between on bike and in the car.


Next time, bring our own laptop. The internet cafes were fairly easy to find, but the performance of the computers was usually lacking. We'd buy an hour's worth of time and half of that would be used up waiting for pages to download. It was exasperating. Several of the machines wouldn't allow us to download photos. Also would have been very useful in investigating potential hotels.



Just about 900 miles ridden by bicycle, over 91,000 feet of climbing in 20 days of riding.

Days lost to rain: just 2



Days lost to travel: 7--3 in the air June 10-11, July 8, 3 driving from town-to-town, and 1 to Venice.



Climbs covered (most data came from http://climbbybike.com/ ):
1. Ventoux x 3:

• Bedoin 14.1 miles, 5322 ft climbed, 7.1% avg, 12% max
• Malaucene 13.2 miles, 5036ft climbed, 7.2% avg 12% max
• Sault 16.0 miles, 3780 ft climbed, 4.5% avg, 11% max

2. Croix de Fer, 17.1 miles, 4239 ft climbed, 4.7% avg
3. Col du Galibier & Telegraph combined 21.7 miles, 6312 ft climbed, 5.5% avg
4. Madonna del Ghisallo from Bellagio 6.6 miles, 1811 ft climbed, 5.2% avg
5. Climb from Onno to Ghisallo via Asso 10.1 miles, 1798 ft climbed 3.4% avg
6. Varenna to Esino Lario (and beyond) 7.5 miles, 2228 ft climbed, 5.7% avg
7. Stelvio from Bormio 13.4 miles, 5030 ft climbing, 7.1% avg
8. Stelvio from Prato allo Stelvio (the more famous approach) 15.1 miles, 5932 ft climbed, 7.4% avg
9. Mortirolo (Passo di Foppa) from Mazzo di Valtellina 7.7 miles, 4265 ft climbed, 10.5% avg 18% max
10. Passo Gavia, the "race face" from Ponte di Legno 10.7 miles, 4472 ft climbed, 7.9% avg 16% max
11. Passo Fedaia from Caprile, 8.8 miles, 3475 ft climbed, 7.5% avg 18% max
12. Passo Sella (both directions) 3.4 miles, 1309 ft & 3.4 miles, 1224 ft, 7.3% avg 6.8% avg
13. Passo Campolongo (both directions) from Arabba 2.5 miles, 968 feet; from Corvara (twice) 3.9 miles, 1007 ft
14. Passo Pordoi (both directions) from Arabba 5.8 miles, 2090 ft, 6.8% avg; 8.1 miles, 2579 ft, 6% avg
15. Passo Gardena (both directions) Corvara 6.0 miles, 1965 ft, 6.2% avg, 3.7 miles, 820 ft, 4.2% avg
16. Passo Giau from Selva di Cadore, 6.1 miles, 3025 ft, 9.1% avg
17. Passo Falzarego/Valporola 10.2 miles, 2995 ft, 5.6% avg
18. Tre Croci twice 5.0 miles, 1886 ft + 1886 ft, 7.1% avg
19. Passo Sant' Antonio 5.7 miles, 4885 ft (that sounds like an awful lot of vertical feet--I think the actual is closer to Tre Croci), 7.1% avg.
20. Tre Cime di Lavaredo, 4.7 miles, 1864 ft, 7.5% avg, last 4 k avg 11.7%
21. Monte Grappa, 16.5 miles, 5141 ft, 5.9% avg
22. Peri to Fosse, 5.7 miles, 2506 ft, 8.3% avg, 15% max.

Toughest climb? Stelvio from Prato. No breaks, 15 miles. And the last 4 km of Tre Cime.



Prettiest? Stelvio was the most impressive looking climb--gotta love switchbacks. 48 of them.

Flat tires: zero


Other mechanicals: zero. On the rainy day in the Alps (le Marmotte route) the rain cleaned my chain of every last bit of lube--it was squeaking like the Tin Man in Wizard of Oz--it was embarrassing, but it held and got me back.

Strudel consumed: 4 lbs.

The worst thing about riding bicycles in Europe: the motorcycles.

Self guided or supported tour? The downside we had to the do-it-yourself route was the travel days. Despite our best intentions, we rarely rode on days we were changing hotels. We'd say we'd ride after arriving at the next city, but we never did. We did ride the morning after leaving Arabba en route to Cortina, but Cortina was not very far away. It was still a hassle finding a place on the fly.

Supported tours avoid the transfer issue because you throw your bags in the van, it moves your stuff to the next hotel, and you ride to it. Also, supported tours have food at various locations throughout a ride and provide SAG support. Do-it-yourself and you're on your own. The tour companies also have plenty of knowledge of where to ride--although they're going off itineraries that are easily duplicatable--again, except for those one-way transfer days.

However, we spent four weeks, going where we wanted to go, when we wanted to go, rode as much or as little as we wanted, and spent the same we would have spent for 7-10 days of a guided tour (including airfare). That's the big difference in favor of do-it-yourself.


4 weeks? Too long? I didn't think so from a traveling standpoint. From a practical standpoint (employment, a house to take care of, loved ones, etc.) four weeks is a long time. But I'd do it again if everything worked out. . . otherwise, our next trips probably won't exceed two weeks.

Peri to Fosse--Nearing the End, Monday July 5, 2010

After leaving the area around Monte Grappa, we headed west towards Milan, our departure city, and hoped for some cooler weather. Nothin' doin'. We ended up in Garda, on its namesake lake, Lake Garda. The whole Lake Garda thing, and the weather once we left Cortina d'Ampezzo, will have to be another entry. Suffice it to say for now that the weather was, by our standards, miserable, and the riding along the shore of Lake Garda was, shall we say, memorable.

I'd read about the climb from Peri to Fosse and knew that it was near Lake Garda. The drive from Garda to Peri was about 30 minutes. The climb features in the Gran Fondo Luca Avesani in September http://www.lascaligera.it/GFAvesani/home.htm .

Verona's just on the other side of the hill from where we started so its a busily traveled area by cyclists.

We had already dealt with heat and humidity and climbing while on Monte Grappa. Monte Grappa wasn't as bad an experience as I feared. Sure, there was a lot of sweat, but I think we had a slight reprieve that day we climbed. Our day on the Peri-Fosse climb was also warm, but not so much as to cause unnecessary concerns over hydration. We lucked out. There were clouds overhead and, after we'd reached the summit and pedaled around some, there was even some thunder nearby. Plus, though not a short climb, it wasn't a 15 mile struggle, either.

The gradient was comfortable up until a few kms from the top where you could tell it had kicked up to somewhere around the claimed 15% maximum. There are 10 switchbacks to keep track of and track your progress. Very few cars passed on the way up, or down. Once over the crest at the town of Fosse there are dozens of different directions you can go. Head directly south and you'll end up in Verona. As we did head south, we saw many a rider headed north coming from that very city. Of course, being a Monday, there were far fewer than there probably were the two days prior.

The topside of this little mount is dotted with small towns, it's really quite pretty and must be a terrific training ground for those folks headed out of the flats of Verona. Summer weather around the area, though, is U.S. southeast-like. Hot and humid. Maybe not Miami humid, but far moreso than we're accustomed to in California.

Linda and I tootled around atop the little mountain for an hour, or so, and headed back the way we'd come. It was only a 40 mile day, but it had a fun climb, great views and those lovely switchbacks. If you ever end up in Garda, or around the lake, don't waste your time fighting traffic and risking your life. There are scores of other directions to go, away from the lake, into Verona, up to Fosse, etc., that would be far more rewarding.

Rating the Accommodations - Bormio

Hotel Alu, June 22-25, 2010, 4 nights

http://www.hotelalu.it/

Via Btg. Morbegno 20
23032 Bormio, Italy

Location: right at the base of Bormio 2000m gondola. It's away from the town center, but it's a close enough walk that it's no trouble. In the town center there are plenty of places to eat and there is a market nearby. Bormio's ideally situated for Stelvio, Morirolo, Gavia, Passo del Tonale, Passo del Bernina, Livigno, etc.

Rate: 65 euros per person per day, mezza pensione (half board). Very reasonable, I thought, for a quality hotel. 50-70 euros per person per day was the going range for the time of year we were there. Rates increased towards the end of June into early July.

Rooms: Hotel Alu had the most updated, modern rooms we found on this trip. They had been completely renovated within the last couple of years and they looked great. Kind of Ikea-like, but very comfortable and just, well, clean. At the same time, maybe too sterile? It seemed a little devoid of atmosphere.

Large, clean bathroom. Didn't try the bidet.

I thought the bed was quite comfortable.

Food: Hotel Alu had, I think, the best food of the hotels we visited. Breakfast was still the usual muesli, yogurt, breads, etc., but they always had a couple of extra things. Dinners were superb. Each of these places would give a 4-course meal. Start w/salad and appetizers. Then a soup or small plate, then a main entree, then dessert. At breakfast each morning the staff left the choices for that evening's dinner. There would always be three items to choose from in each of the second and third courses. They knew we spoke English so they'd have an English version for us--they did the same for the German, Dutch, and Italian speakers. We never struck out on the choices, i.e. we were always find something that was very agreeable. For dessert, they had the best strawberry gelato I've ever tasted. And a big ol' bowl full of it, too.

Staff: The meal staff was very friendly, though they didn't speak much English. We got on well and enjoyed their service. Chiara Pedranzini is one of the owners and she was really the face of the hotel for us. She's young, but very good at running the business. She's very attentive, speaks English very well (as does Katia and some of the other front desk staff we dealt with).

Hotel Alu is trying to extend its reach out to cyclists, though I expect cyclists are still new for them. They are looking for ways to attract them. There were several while we there, but they had room for more. One cool thing they do is wash you r cycling gear for you. At the end of each day you bring your dirty clothes down to the front desk and they'd have it clean and dry by next morning, no charge. Unfortunately, it was limited to just the cycling clothes.

Recommend? Yes, it was a nice hotel, very good food. Great staff. Next time, though, I would be very interested in trying Hotel Funivia:

http://www.hotelfunivia.it/en_hotel.aspx

It was located just a block away from Hotel Alu. Funivia seems to be very in-tune with cyclists. While we were climbing the Stelvio we saw numerous Funivia staff, on bikes (easily recognizable in their Hotel Funivia kit), riding with guests and a Hotel Funivia van running up and down the mountain urging people on, helping with mechanicals, carrying food and gear, it was impressive. I don't know if that was a service included in room cost, or if it was extra. Funivia's rates were very similar to Alu's. Hotel Alu's trying to attract cyclists, Funivia seems to be way ahead of Alu's efforts.

Another hotel that was recommended, and looked impressive was Hotel Baita dei Pini:

http://www.baitadeipini.com/

It was a pretty location, a little closer to town. It was a little more than Alu and Funivia, but not much more--maybe 5 euros/day/person more.

So if/when we go again, Funivia's next. Then after that Baita dei Pini.