Bit of a hiccup last night when our Airb&b bookee responded with blah de blah but there will be an additional charge, payable in cash, on arrival, for linen and taxes, of 22 euros. Jens cancelled immediately and we booked somewhere else. Carlos responded with a plaintive ‘could you bring your own linen?’ To which Jens responded: ‘We’ve already booked somewhere else. Charging 22 euros on top of the published price is unusual.’ The man should have been a diplomat. My language may have been a tad more combative!
Anyway, heading out of Genoa, along the (more accurately ‘one’) Italian Riviera, and the coastline is just beautiful, one lovely cove after another. Quite hard going, but nothing too brutal – mostly long, serpentine swoops along excellent roads, reasonably light-traffic’d at this time of year.
Chivari by around four, plenty of time to buy pasta and fresh veges and a nice bottle of red for our dinner, then up to our accommodation, a nice self-contained apartment on a hillside, where Jens is cooking up a storm as I write.
In passing, what a joy it is to ride in a country where people don’t hate cyclists. Five days in and the driving has been beyond considerate. No close passes, no close calls, drivers tolerate us up long, slow inclines, and when they overtake give a berth you could park a bus in. Viva Italia!